Vinegar :: essays research papers fc

VinegarChris Nacey Writing 101 Final draft 2-19-1997     When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my mother.She liked to cook and so did I. Because of this, I learned my way around thekitchen. I knew the place for everything, and I knew the uses of mosteverything. There was only one paradox, in my knowledge of the kitchen vinegar.My mother had one bottle of vinegar for as long as I can remember. She neverused it in cooking, or taught me how to for that matter. Our bottle of WhiteWine Vinegar sat in our cupboard on the goat shelf, enigmatically, untouched,detached. I knew that my mother wouldnt have it without reason. It was in thekitchen, so I concluded that it must be some sort of, rarely used, cookingstaple. I would never have guessed then that vinegar had so umteen uses.     Just the other day, I was in the mall visiting a friend that works atFrankincense and Myrrh. While there, I happened upon some bottles that caugh tmy eye. They were attractive looking ornamental bottles. Each one was filledwith mysterious, colored liquids the colors varied from red to embrown to yellow.In the liquids were berries, sprigs of herbs, and things of the such. Ithought they looked interesting, so I picked up a bottle that I recognized ashaving sage in it. I took a look at the label. On the label were listed theingredients sage, rosemary, and southernwood leaves. When I read the front ofthe bottle, I was surprised to find that I was looking at an herbal vinegar hairrinse. Before this I never knew that such a thing existed. After my experienceat the mall, I became aware that vinegar didnt just belong in the kitchen.This intrigued me. I decided to find out more about vinegar and its uses.     Nobody knows the exact origins of vinegar, but there are many storiesand beliefs surrounding this strange liquid.(Oster 3) The Roman Army wasrecorded to have mixed vinegar with water to make a sort of Gator ade for thesoldiers. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century United States, similardrinks known as "shrubs" or "switchels" were made by field laborers. To makethese drinks, they mixed either fruit juices or water, with sometimes salt, andfruit-flavored vinegars.(Oster 4) The earliest recorded use of vinegar, however,was in Babylonia around 5,000 B.C. There, it was typically made from dates, andcommonplace as a medicine.(Oster 3)     Throughout history, vinegar has been used medicinally.