Mail Order Vinegar: How Zingerman’s Puts A Zing In It
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the fringes of the University of Michigan campus (GO BLUE!), Zingerman's Deli has been piling pastrami high on rye, and doling out samples from their celebrated cheese counter for over forty years. The deli expanded to include a selection of specialty pantry items in 1986, which solidified Zingerman’s standing as a world-renowned food mecca. In 1993, one of the deli employees, Mo Frechette, would first offer a now famous hand-illustrated mail order catalog, which offered many of the same sundries, amassing a faithful subscribership ever since.
When I first made my pilgrimage twenty years ago, I was floored by the selection, but also the service. It’s the most extensive vinegar walls in the country (and I knew this even before writing ACID TRIP!), and you truly get to try anything you’d like, from the most approachable apple cider vinegar to the most expensive balsamicos. It was also the first, and only time, I’ve tasted cognac vinegar!
I spoke with Brad Hedeman, head of Marketing & Product Selection Zingerman's Mail Order, aka, their “food finder”, about how they’ve built the best vinegar wall in the country, and what he suggests customers do with all that acid!
What were the first vinegars you chose to sell at Zingerman’s?
I started at Zingerman's Deli in 1994 and our vinegar selection was just starting to evolve… though the quality was so-so. We carried Molinari Balsamic back then, as well as Sanchez Romate Sherry Vinegar, which we still carry today. We carried, or would carry, traditional balsamico very soon, but I remember our best selling "balsamic" at the time being a condimento by Cavalli. It wasn't until we started traveling and made our own personal connections with vinegar makers, that we started to introduce vinegars that most customers had never heard of before. But in the early/mid ’90s, we were at the whim of what importers were offering, which wasn't as varied as it is today.
What vinegar do you have in stock right now?
We currently stock 23 different vinegars. More than a few of them are balsamics of different ages.
How has our broader understanding of food and evolving palate influenced what vinegars you carry?
Honestly, I'm not sure vinegar knowledge has kept pace with the other areas of food over the past thirty years. Olive oil, for instance, was unheard of in ’94, but nowadays folks have multiple bottles from different parts of the world that they employ for specific purposes. Vinegar? It hasn't garnered the same interest. Customers understand the complexities of bean-to-bar chocolates, yet the only vinegar that means much to your average foodie is probably still balsamic. When I look at our own selection, a large portion of it is balsamic—from a range of ages and prices (which almost all are from their proprietary producer: La Vecchia Dispensa). The average customer is still blown away by the fact that balsamic vinegar tastes sweet! Balsamic is still the most recognizable and—more importantly—the most gift-able vinegar out there. Folks know it's special, but I'm not sure how much deeper they go with it.
I know you give out a lot of samples of vinegar in the deli, how do you lead customers through a tasting to get to the nuances of vinegar?
At the deli (and even over the phone in our own way at Zingerman's Mail Order), they sample in very small sips. I think the most effective method is to taste a range of three [vinegars], ranging from most acidic to sweetest. Finding the profile that's most interesting to them is the first step. If they like the sweeter type, then you can taste a few more balsamics from different ages to dial in the exact flavor they want.
When it comes to speaking about a vinegar's flavor, we use similar terms we do for other foods, but often, wine terms are best. Words like earthy, rich, savory, nutty, high minerality, bright, sparkling, sharp, fruity tones, sweet, soft, smooth, slightly savory, lingering, complex … and a little sweet in the finish.
You must have some good stories from sourcing trips.
I think the best story is for the Pofi … that was an Ari (Weinzweig, co-founder) find. Read about “a vinegar so secret it didn’t even have a name” here: Pofi Vinegar.
How do you think most customers are using the vinegars they buy at Zingermans?
Most of the vinegar uses I hear about from customers, friends, and co-workers are (in my own assumption of descending order):
vinaigrettes
marinades
deglazing pans
condiment (gazpacho, pub fries, etc)
finishing drizzle for style and flavor (fancy, old, thick balsamic mostly)
pickling things (but not with great vinegar)
I’d love to know how you categorize different varieties of vinegar for your customers. Let’s talk through a few:
Agrodolce di Montegibbio Bianco (white balsamic)
I blame marketers, like myself, for calling this "white balsamic" when it really is different. Still, it was easy for folks to grasp that this vinegar has sweet components by calling it "white balsamic" so maybe the ends justifies the means. This vinegar is all about the balance between the sweet and the sour flavors at play. Brighter (more sour) than balsamic and to my mind more versatile.
Vinagre Anejo Gar (Spanish Rioja red wine vinegar)
The workhorse vinegar of my kitchen for years. Ari originally sourced this one back in the ’90s and its price point and flavor have made it a mainstay for many of us ever since. It's solid, it's consistent, it tastes great and it fits pretty much any recipe that calls for red wine vinegar.
Ttantta txakoli white wine vinegar
If the Rioja vinegar is the red wine workhorse in the pantry, I use this one as my white wine vinegar workhorse. It works with everything. Plus I love visiting and eating in that region of the world and so I'm a bit nostalgic for the txakoli.
There's a soft, earthy sweetness that I've always enjoyed from this sherry vinegar and sherry in general. It deserves as much attention as balsamic does because of its soft, sweet character but without the price. A little goes a long way. I remember being excited to use this vinegar after I made gazpacho for the first time...it was the perfect compliment.
I don't remember us carrying another apple cider vinegar maker besides Gingras from Quebec. It has a clean, crisp apple flavor that's consistent year after year after year. We've used it in so many recipes over the years, I think I'd notice if we switched to another! We often do head-to-head tastings with other apple cider vinegars we receive or find in stores and we've certainly found others that are good...but in general, they've either been too sweet or they're too harsh or too musty or something that didn't quite match what we were looking for. I've always felt Gingras was aiming to make good apple cider vinegar as opposed to finding something to do with their extra apples.
Best vinegar for chips I've ever had. Toasty, roasty, malty, great.
Yes, George Paul! This is shockingly delicate and precious and it doesn't seem like it should come out of Nebraska because there's no track record of anyone making great tasting vinegar in Nebraska, and yet here we have this ethereal elixir with the softest flavor of raspberry without being overly sweet and still having a brightness that's unmatched. It's very specific and it's very, very good at being that specific.
Rice vinegar
I look at a lot of our foods as requiring some experience, and rice vinegar is one. I believe most folks think of rice vinegar as a harsh, stark, bite your throat kind of experience. It wouldn't be the first thing they reach for, so bringing them along slowly would be my approach. I'd start with the Junmai rice wine vinegar from American Vinegar Works because it shows folks there can be real flavor and nuance to rice wine vinegar. It immediately puts it on par with good white wine vinegar and folks start to imagine using it in more ways than just as a cleaning solution. And one bottle doesn't break the bank. Once they're on board with good rice vinegar in general, that's when I'd introduce the Iio Jozo Rice Wine vinegar. It's exquisite and is best enjoyed in its purest form as the finishing touch to a direct dish, like sushi or equally elegant cuisine. It's the deep end of the pool. But the Iio Jozo Rice Wine vinegar is heads and shoulders above the domestic.
It's French and a little funky. I like that these folks were doing something "new" with vinegar...even though we focus on traditionally made stuff, when you find a unique innovation that tastes great and is well made, I think it's worth featuring them, too.
And is the Banyuls really discontinued? It was so good!
Alas, I'm afraid it is...at least at Zingerman's Mail Order. Over the years the sales were softening while the variety and selection of other vinegars increased. We made the tough decision to move on in the past few months, I'd say...at least officially. I still worked at Zingerman's Deli in the "dry goods" area when we first brought that vinegar to our shelves. It was unlike anything we offered at the time. I think the 'agrodolce' category of vinegars has filled the hole and in some ways surpassed it, but it was and still is great. If you can find it.