Chive flower vinegar

This is a very simple recipe but the colour is pleasingly pink and the flavour of the vinegar is deliciously oniony. If you don’t have enough chive blossoms to do two infusions then don’t worry, it will still be delicious, just less pink, with one round of flowers.

Photos by Sharon Cosgrove

Makes about 450ml

For the vinegar
450ml white balsamic vinegar or good quality white wine vinegar
50 chive flower heads (25 initially and 25 more a week later)

Harvest the chive flower heads and shake well to remove any little bugs or beasties that might be lurking.

Put the chive flower heads in a clean glass jar (about 500ml size). Pour over the vinegar and give everything a good stir so the flowers are mostly immersed in the liquid. Leave to stand at room temperature, ideally in the sunshine, for about a week. Give it a good shake everyday.  A week later strain out the flowers and add a fresh batch of flowers to the jar, stir again and leave to stand for another week or two.

Finally, strain out the second batch of flowers using a very fine sieve or a sieve lined with a clean piece of muslin to make sure you remove any remaining bits of the plant. Put the gorgeously pink vinegar in a nice jar or bottle and store in a dark cupboard and use in salad dressings, potato salads, to season lentils or even for quick pickles.