Page 22 - Italina-American Herald - January 2025

22 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | JANUARY 2025 ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
So life gave you disappointing wine? Make vinegar, or mussels
By Natalie
Pantaleo
I remember
working in the
corporate world and
being grateful for
the many bottles of
wine I received from
colleagues and vendors during the holidays.
After all, wine makes an easy gift. However,
some less-than-favorites seemed to remain
on my wine rack forever. (I’m looking
beyond my laptop at one on my buffet right
now.) Whenever I dust, I consider re-gifting,
but that’s too impersonal. Besides, if I don’t
care for a certain varietal, I’d be reluctant to
bring it to a dinner party where I may have
to drink it.
So, what should we do with dust-
collecting, unopened wine bottles, or even
open ones that have begun to change flavor?
Of course, cooking is always an option: coq
au vin, poached pears, granita, zabaglione.
But isn’t January supposed to be diet time,
at least while the ink is drying on your New
Year’s resolutions list? Nonetheless, stay tuned
below for a mussels-in-wine recipe that’s on
the lighter side.
In the meantime, consider another option
for a boring winter weekend trapped inside
the house with a cabinet full of wines you’re
not inclined to drink: make homemade
vinegar!
I’m not talking balsamic here – there’s no
time for that. Did you know that for balsamic
to receive the highest quality DOP grading in
Italy, it’s required to age for a minimum of 12
years to 25 years or more?
“What needs aging when making balsamic
is the ‘must,’ ” Sal Auriemma, owner of
Claudio’s Specialty Foods on Philly’s 9th Street
Italian Market, told me. “Must” is freshly
crushed grape juice, complete with skins,
seeds, and stems. Claudio’s imports its private
label balsamic from Modena, Italy.
Across the river at Blue Moon Premium
Olive Oil and Vinegar in Collingswood,
N.J., vinegars begin traditionally in Italy but
Jerome Palumbo deglazes a pan before making sauce at Saloon restaurant in Philadelphia.
PHOTO BY NATALIE PANTALEO
Making mussels
For those less crafty or ambitious, Jerome Palumbo, a longtime cook at the locally
famous Saloon restaurant, 750 S. Seventh St. in Philadelphia, shared an easy and quick
recipe for making “mussels white” at home:
Ingredients
• Enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the bottom of your pan
• 1 ½ dozen closed-shell, fresh mussels cleaned
• Teaspoon of finely chopped garlicw
• 2 cups white wine
• ¼ stick of butter
• Red pepper flakes and salt to taste
• Nice handful of chopped fresh parsley
Directions
1. Sauté chopped garlic in olive oil
2. Add the mussels (clams can be substituted)
3. Add the white wine
4. Add butter
5. Season with red pepper, salt and fresh parsley
6. Cover and cook for about 5-8 minutes until all mussels are opened
7. Serve with crusty Italian bread
There you have it. Wine problems solved!
make an interesting pitstop in California
before bottling. “We offer flavored balsamic
produced in Italy and imported in bulk to
Veronica Foods in California where only
natural flavors [like chocolate, black cherry,
and cinnamon pear] are added before
bottling and labeling for Blue Moon,” owner
Bob Cascone said.
Of course, when you’re talking vinegar
balsamic is widely regarded as the gold
standard. Yet, now and then, I crave a
simple salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumbers,
and onions made with red wine vinegar,
reminiscent of childhood meals on Tasker
Street. And that’s the snowy-day-type-of-
vinegar project I’m talking about here.
Though even the simplest of recipes call for a
“mother,” and I’m not referring to your mom.
This “mother” refers to a fermentation starter
that is much easier to buy than to make. You
might find it at a gourmet or natural foods
store or online at Amazon or Etsy.
Making vinegar
So, here you go – after some extensive
online research and sifting through several
cookbooks in my pantry, the simplest
directions for making homemade vinegar
I found is in a June 2023 issue of Wine
Enthusiast by food writer Toni Dash:
“Combine the mother, 16 ounces of wine
and 8 ounces of water in a sterilized glass or
ceramic jar. Don’t use plastic, as the acid will
react with it … Cover the jar with several
layers of cheesecloth. Store it in a dark spot
with good air circulation and a temperature
between 70–80 °F.”
Dash provides additional tips like “feeding
the mother” by adding more wine to the jar/s
during the process and being careful not to
move the jars around. After a few months
of fermentation, the vinegar will be ready
for transfer to clean bottles or jars for use
at home or as gifts. Dash also offers a tutorial
for more on vinegar making:
https://boulderlocavore.com/make-it-yourself-
homemade-vinegar/. IAH
Natalie Pantaleo is a marketing
communications consultant, brand strategist,
and consummate storyteller based in the
greater Philadelphia area. In addition to being
a published features writer, Natalie is the
author of “Lying Down with Dogs,” a novella
globally released by The Awakened Press in
September 2022.
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