Remembering the Past Australia
Directions for Making Vinegar (1803)
First published in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser of Saturday, 2 April 1803. This is the first Australian recipe using local produce printed in an Australian newspaper.
Prep Time
30 minutes
Cook Time
1 hr
Additional Time
1 year
Total Time
1 year, 1 hour 30 minutes
- one gallon water
- one quart (4 cups) ripe currants
- pound and a half (680 gms) brown sugar
- Boil required quantity of water an hour
- When it is cold, put to every gallon (3.78 litres) of water one quart of ripe currants, which have been picked from the stalks and bruised with the hand.
- Stir it frequently for two days
- Then put to every gallon of liquor a pound and a half (680 grams) of brown sugar.
- When it is dissolved and well mixed, put the whole into a barrel, and place the barrel in a warm place till currants are ripe the following year, when the vinegar will be ready for bottling.
- N.B. You must paste a paper over the bung-hole of the barrel, and make a few small holes in the paper. Coarse muslin is better than paper.
- The acid currant of New South Wales will make as good vinegar as the currant, and which by the above method makes the finest vinegar in this Country.