No. 3566 — Apple Vinegar
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3566 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Gather windfall apples, even those not fully ripe, and pile them until softer but not rotten. Chop as finely as shredded cabbage and press through pointed cloth bags.
Pour the juice into a tub and leave on ice three days. Carefully decant the clear juice into a sound oak barrel, avoiding sediment.
For each vedro juice add 1 glass honey or 2 glasses dark molasses. If available, add an existing vinegar mother; otherwise the period recipe uses a sheet of writing paper smeared with honey.
Cover the bunghole with cloth and leave for three months. The author says fermentation can take a full year without honey and that the vinegar becomes strong and pleasantly flavoured.
She notes the low cost in an orchard and suggests using the pressed pulp on a seed bed: seeds from ripe fruit may sprout in spring to form young trees.