Putting the Malt in Malt Vinegar

 

Towards the end of last year, we embarked on an exciting new partnership with local company, Orkney Craft Vinegar. Now, we’re delighted to introduce Highland Park Malt Vinegar, the latest in their range of traditionally produced artisan vinegars that are beginning to attract enthusiastic attention from some of the country’s finest chefs.

 

Orkney Craft Vinegar’s owner, Sam Britten – at the time still operating his new business from his garage at home – persuaded us to give him one our casks to trial a Highland Park vinegar. Eight months later, he returned to the distillery with a finished bottle. We were impressed! And the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Sam describes his company as ‘hyperlocal’, using only locally sourced and foraged ingredients – including rosehip, meadowsweet, sugar kelp and rhubarb – to flavour their traditionally-fermented vinegars which are left to age in oak barrels for up to a year, bottled in small batches and offer a genuine taste of Orkney. The company also aims to be as sustainable as possible, using only glass, cork and paper in their packaging. With such a clearly shared ethos, working together was a very logical step.

 

Highland Park Malt Vinegar is now made using barley and a proportion of our own peated malt from the distillery. Traditionally fermented and then aged for up to a year in our whisky-soaked sherry and bourbon oak casks, the vinegar delivers classic heather honey flavours. The ageing process both absorbs the flavours from our barrels and creates a softer and more rounded ingredient with far more depth than a standard vinegar. Hop onto their website to find out more and follow the link below to pre-order a bottle.

 

PRE-ORDER HIGHLAND PARK MALT VINEGAR NOW!

 

Please note that Highland Park Malt Vinegar is available to pre-order now from the Orkney Malt Vinegar website and is due for release on 6^th December 2019. Orders placed by 9^th December will be shipped in time for Christmas.  

 

Your new secret ingredient!

 

Orkney Craft Vinegars are a real ‘secret weapon’ in the kitchen, balancing and lifting flavours in both dishes and drinks. Ideal for using sparingly as a ‘finishing vinegar’ at the end of a dish or in a sauce – seasoning food as you would with salt or elevating flavours as you would with citrus fruit – they’re also light and rounded enough to be added to drinks. Why not try these two fantastic recipes, showcasing Highland Park Malt Vinegar’s versatility?  

 

Scallops in Malted Butter Sauce 

 

Pan-fried scallops, deglazed with Highland Park Malt Vinegar and butter to make a quick and easy emulsified sauce. The buttery sauce and fatty scallops are gorgeously tempered by the sharpness of the vinegar and its sweet, malty note. A few barely dressed rocket leaves are all else that is needed. Serves 4.

 

Ingredients

 

16 shelled scallops

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

140g butter

 

75ml Highland Park Malt Vinegar

 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper  

 

Method

 

Pat dry and season the scallops. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then sit the scallops in the pan. Turn them after 2 minutes, when they should have taken on a gentle brown colour. Give them another minute, then add half the butter. Let it melt and, as it does, use it to baste the scallops; you will need to gently tilt the pan.

 

The butter will quickly turn a nutty brown, and at this point pour over 50ml of the vinegar. Cook for another 30 seconds, then lift the scallops out. Turn up the heat, add the remaining butter and vinegar and allow to bubble, stirring all the time, to reduce to a lovely sauce. Pour over the scallops and serve with a grinding of pepper over the top.

 

Recipe originally from The Vinegar Cupboard by Angela Clutton.  

 

Old Dog Shandy 

 

A traditional shandy beer is mixed with lemonade, usually in proportions of one to one. This is a different take on the drink using Highland Park Malt Vinegar, dark beer, smoked honey and Highland Park 12 Year Old over crushed ice. Makes one drink.

 

Ingredients

 

60ml dark beer

 

20ml smoked honey

 

15ml Highland Park Malt Vinegar

 

15ml Highland Park 12 Year Old

 

Crushed ice  

 

To serve

 

Combine the honey, vinegar, whisky and dark beer in a beer glass, then fill with crushed ice. Sip through a straw. Recipe originally from Eamon Rockey (formerly of Betony NYC) in Acid Trip by Michael Harlan Turkell.