Plum & Vinegar by Fruchtwerker. Plum vinegar with plums from the apple farmer next door – just three percent acidity.
Plum & Vinegar by Fruchtwerker is a plum vinegar from Talkau in Schleswig-Holstein: 20 percent regional plums, macerated cold in brandy and wine vinegar, and sweetened with sugar. No added flavoring, no concentrate, no coloring. 250 ml, mild with three percent acidity – a soft fruit vinegar, distinctly different from plum jam or balsamic.
Plum vinegar is the variety that came into being thanks to a phone call. The recipe had long been sitting ready in a drawer at Fruchtwerker, but it lacked the regional fruit. Then the apple farmer, who had been supplying Boskop apples for years, called to mention an unusually good plum harvest – until then, no one in Talkau knew he also grew plums. The harvest was just around the corner, the recipe was ready, and since then, there has been Plum & Vinegar: the latest variety in the range and one of the mellowest.
Plum cake without the dough, with an acidity that is barely noticeable
The plum vinegar tastes like ripe plum – sweet, soft, with that slightly tart note from the skin familiar from plum cake. As with all Fruchtwerker varieties, the acidity is at three percent, but it recedes so far behind the plum that the vinegar acts almost like a fruit syrup with a kick. The sweetness rounds it off and remains in the background.
The color is a dark red with a violet shimmer, like plum juice, clear in the glass. The aroma is reminiscent of plum jam with a tart edge. The finish is medium-long and gentle. With 52 grams of sugar per 100 grams, it is sweet, but because of the tartness of the fruit, it seems less sugary than the number suggests.
Anyone looking for a vinegar with noticeable acidity will find the plum vinegar too mild – it is a vinegar for rounding off rather than sharpening. And anyone who avoids plums will hardly warm up to this vinegar: it tastes so clearly of fruit that it is anything but neutral.
Red cabbage, roast pork, goat cheese, and plum compote
This vinegar belongs in the autumn kitchen. A splash in the red cabbage while cooking, instead of apple vinegar and sugar, and the cabbage gains fruitiness and color. In the gravy for roast pork, duck, or goose, added just before serving – the plum pairs with fatty dishes like almost no other fruit. For blood sausage or leberkäse from the pan, a few drops directly on the meat.
In salads, it pairs well with hearty greens and cheese: lamb's lettuce with goat cheese and walnuts, beetroot with feta, or a red cabbage salad with apples. The dressing: one tablespoon of vinegar, three tablespoons of walnut oil, salt, pepper. Because the vinegar is so mild, it can handle a little more – two tablespoons work without any problems.
For dessert: over plum compote, in rice pudding, over vanilla ice cream with toasted almonds. As a drink, a splash in mineral water or sparkling wine. Its siblings from the same fruit farmer are Apple & Vinegar – anyone who has both has an orchard on their shelf – and for the berry side, Cherry & Vinegar.
Based on experience: This vinegar handles more heat than the berry varieties because the plum aroma is more stable. A splash in red cabbage can be cooked along with it. It is the best variety in the range for pork marinades.
A recipe for autumn: red cabbage with this vinegar. Finely shred the red cabbage, sauté with an onion in butter, add two tablespoons of vinegar, half a cup of apple juice, bay leaf, clove, and simmer for an hour. The plum replaces the apple one would otherwise slice in, and the acidity replaces the vinegar – both from one bottle.
For the grill: marinate pork belly or neck in vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger, then grill slowly. The combination of plum and soy is the Asian side of this variety, and it works surprisingly well. However, this bottle is not suitable for fish and light dishes – the plum is too heavy for that.
One fruit farmer, two fruits, one manufactory in Talkau
The plums come from the same fruit farmer who has been supplying Fruchtwerker with Boskop apples for years – in the immediate vicinity of the manufactory. They are harvested when fully ripe, flash-frozen, and then sit cold in vinegar for several days until the color and aroma have transferred. The fruit remains cold during this process; only after pressing is the liquid boiled down with sugar and bottled.
The fruit content is 20 percent, slightly below the range average – plums are so aromatic that more fruit would make the vinegar heavy. The label says three percent acidity – "Particularly mild" – as with all varieties from Talkau; the plum makes it the softest one. It is the variety for people who have previously avoided fruit vinegar because of the acidity.
The method comes from the raspberry recipe of the farmer Emma near Ratzeburg, which Matthias Hüttmann took over in 2008. Today, Fruchtwerker produces around 300,000 bottles a year in Talkau, and this vinegar is the youngest variety – born from a phone call, a good harvest, and a recipe that was just waiting for the fruit.
The vinegar for autumn and for beginners
This vinegar is the variety with which you can convince people who do not like vinegar. Low acidity, lots of fruit, mild sweetness – in red cabbage, no one will notice that there is vinegar in it, only that it tastes better than usual.
As a gift, it suits anyone who bakes plum cake in autumn, roasts goose, or makes their own red cabbage. Paired with apple vinegar, it is the regional duo from Fruchtwerker: two fruits from the same farm, just a few kilometers from Talkau.
A fruit vinegar made from plums from the neighboring farm, cold-macerated – for red cabbage, roasts, and the compote afterward.
