Chilli vinegar

Bottles of Goddard's Pies non-brewed condiment infused with chillies and garlic. Commonly used on pie and mash food.

Chilli vinegar is a variety of malt vinegar infused with chopped or whole chilli peppers,^[1][2] which is a delicacy of the United Kingdom's capital city, London.^[3] Chilli vinegar is commonly used on foods associated with London's Cockney culture, such as pie and mash and jellied eels.^[3][4][5] Many recipes in Eliza Acton's 1845 book Modern Cookery for Private Families contain chilli vinegar as an ingredient.^[2]

Chilli vinegar is also used as a table condiment in traditional London pie and mash shops, where it is typically offered alongside parsley liquor and mashed potatoes. The infusion process varies, but commonly involves steeping fresh or dried chillies in malt vinegar to impart heat and flavor over time. Variations of chilli infused vinegar can also be found in other culinary traditions, although the London version is particularly associated with working class food culture in the East End.^[6]

References

1. Beeton, Isabella Mary (1861). Beeton's Book of Household Management. S. O. Beeton. p. 393. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
2. Acton, Eliza (1864). Modern Cookery for Private Families. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
3. Fat Tony (3 July 2024). "London's traditional pie and mash shops are disappearing – we must save them". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
4. Zoe Deleuil (13 June 2009). "Mash hits". The Australian. p. 6.
5. Alex Rhys-Taylor (2013). "Disgust and distinction: the case of the jellied eel". The Sociological Review. 61 (2): 227–246. doi:10.1111/1467-954X.12015.
6. https://archive.org/details/b21506152/page/n83/mode/2up

External links

• Chilli vinegar recipe at epicurious.com