"Let the salad maker be a spendthrift for oil, and a miser for vinegar, a statesman for salt, a madman for mixing."
Spanish Proverb
Salads: If you've already invested in great olive oil, my advice is to get some very good vinegar to go with it. Good oil with bad vinegar is like eating filet mignon with ketchup-a waste.
Everyone agrees that oil and vinegar go great on a salad. But there are no hard-and-fast rules about how you have to get it on there. In Italy they simply sprinkle a few drops of each directly onto the lettuce. The French usually whip up a quick vinaigrette dressing: a bit of Dijon mustard whisked with a little vinegar and then some olive oil to form a smooth emulsion. Add salt and pepper to taste and spoon onto the salad when ready.
Take note that the fuller-flavored vinegars are better suited to fuller-flavored salad greens. Peppery leaves like arugula and mizuna need only a dash of dressing, but keep in mind that they'll often overwhelm more delicate vinegars. The same goes for olive oils-pair delicate oils with delicate vinegars and vice versa.
Bread Salads: Using leftover bread in salads is quite common in the Mediterranean, and it's a great way to showcase the flavor of fine vinegar. Try a salad of cubed country bread, ripe tomatoes, aged sherry vinegar, olives, olive oil and fresh basil.
Sauces and Soups: Vinegar adds lots of life to sauces-it's an essential ingredient in French classics like hollandaise and béarnaise. On a less traditional note, balsamic will give tomato sauce a little extra zip before you put it on pizza or pasta. Vinegar is a fine way to add sparkle to most any soup. A couple of spoonfuls of sherry vinegar add an interesting undercurrent to an already good gazpacho. Use a little raspberry vinegar to liven up summer fruit soups.
Marinades: The acidity of vinegar is an excellent balance for the richness of meat, game or poultry. Add a bit of balsamic for a lamb marinade, aged sherry vinegar for shrimp, Banyuls vinegar for chicken, Chinese black vinegar for fish.
Fruit Salad: Most folks don't think of fruit and vinegar as natural companions, but a bit of raspberry vinegar adds colorful embroidery to fresh fruit salad. Good balsamic vinegar and fresh strawberries are such an incredible combination that once you try it you'll go back to it again and again. Sherry vinegar and strawberries are also delicious.
Pickling: Vinegar is an essential ingredient in pickling. From peppers to peaches, cucumbers to carrots, the better the vinegar the better the flavor of whatever you pickle.
Deglazing: Add a few drops of white wine vinegar to the pan after you've sautéed some fresh fish. Slide the finished fish out of the pan, drop a few capers and a couple of soupspoonfuls of vinegar into the pan. Quickly bring the vinegar to a boil, and using your spatula stir 'round the pan and loosen all those tasty bits that cling to its sides. After a minute or so simply scrape your newly made vinegar sauce over the fish and eat it while its hot. The same works well for chicken-tarragon vinegar is especially good.
Drinks: Looking for a non-alcoholic alternative to wine coolers? How about adding a few drops of aged vinegar to cold soda water? Use something good like a well-aged balsamic condiment or maybe real raspberry vinegar. Great summer drink.
Ice Cream: Aged balsamic is very good on vanilla ice cream. The first time someone told me about it I thought they were nuts-it'd probably be considered heresy in Modena. But honestly, it really is good. Just don't tell anyone from Italy.
Condiments: Vinegars are essential, if secondary, components of such kitchen condiments as ketchup, mustard and chutney. If you're making them at home, remember that the better the vinegar (within reason-I wouldn't recommend 100-year-old balsamic) the better the finished product.
Dipping: People have been dipping bread in vinegar as an appetizer for thousands of years. With the increasing availibility of great vinegars there's no reason not to reinstitute this ancient tradition. Next time you entertain, try putting out bowls of your best vinegars along with some crusty, non-sour bread and let your guests enjoy at their leisure.