The starchy fruit of the peach palm hangs in clusters.
The peach palm (Bactris gasipaes) is a thorny-trunked palm tree native to the Amazonian regions of he tropics. The peach palm is useful as both an ornamental and food plant. Its plum-sized fruits are used for drinks, jellies, soups, confections and savory dishes. These fruits are also the source of the well-known "hearts of palm" used in salads. Like all fruits, peach palm fruits can be used to make homemade vinegars. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Preliminaries
Vinegar-making is an ancient art still relevant today
Peach palm fruit, commonly known as pixbae, has a dense, fairly starchy flesh. In order to make vinegar from the fruit, you can start in a couple of different ways. You can purchase pixbae pulp, frozen, in some Latin-American food stores. Don't use products that have been pasteurized or that have other additives such as sugar and salt, unless you want these flavors in your finished vinegar. If using fresh fruit, peel the fruit and cut it into chunks. Use a blender or food processor to create a pulp. In both cases you will need to thin the pulp with liquid to create a consistency similar to that of fruit juices. Add enough liquid sufficient to make one quart of fluid. For your first batches use water. Later you might want to experiment with wine or other fruit juices as your liquid base.
Making your vinegar
Time and patience will be rewarded with good-tasting vinegar
Use a glass or food-safe crockery container to make your vinegar. Most metals,other than stainless steel, and some plastics will react with the vinegar, rendering it unpalatable or unsafe for consumption. Place your fruit mixture into the container. Vinegar is created when sugar or starch is converted to alcohol, and the alcohol is converted to acetic acid. You can hasten the fermentation into alcohol by adding a bit of wine yeast but it is not necessary. You can also improve the chances of a good batch by adding vinegar "mother" or other starter. Outlets catering to the home brewer or winemaker will have yeast or starter. Other online outlets carry vinegar mother. But you can save yourself some time and money by simply adding a cup of a good, organic, unpasteurized vinegar. This will already have the necessary microorganisms to get your vinegar off to a good start.
Once you have combined all of the ingredients, patience will need to be your watchword. Cover the container with a piece of clean, cheesecloth. This will keep out insects but allow the interaction with the ambient atmosphere that the vinegar-making process requires. Place the mixture in a warm, dark place. Cool temperatures will simply slow the process. Light, however, will be damaging.
Finishing your vinegar
Homemade vinegar will add sparkle to the flavors of your salad
After three to four weeks you can begin checking the aroma and flavor of your vinegar. Check periodically until it has the strength and flavor that you want. You will notice a slimy mat forming and growing on the surface of the vinegar. Don't toss this or disturb it too much. It is the vinegar mother and is beneficial to this process. If it sinks to the bottom of your container then it has no access to the oxygen it needs and should be taken out.
When your vinegar is as you like it, remove the mother and strain all solids out of it by pouring it through several layers of clean cheesecloth, several times until all sediment is removed. You can now bottle your vinegar for storage.
Tips and warnings
If the vinegar mother sinks to the bottom of your container, fish it out and use it for another batch of vinegar or give some to friends fascinated by your new skill who might want to try their own hand at it.
Leaving the vinegar to age for a month or more will render a smoother flavor.
Do not use your homemade vinegar for pickling as it may lack the necessary acidity to hold harmful bacteria at bay.
Your homemade vinegar will keep well refrigerated or at room temperature but will not last indefinitely. For long-term storage, heat the vinegar to at least 140 degrees F, but no higher than 160 degrees F. Heat for 10 minutes then pour into sterilized glass containers and seal.
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