No. 3568 — Quick Vinegar
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 3568 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
Boil 6 vedros river water down to 3 vedros. Bake an ordinary sour barley-flour loaf, cool, slice and dry gently in an oven without scorching.
Pound the rusks finely and put them into a long, narrow bag of loosely woven peasant linen, about 10 vershoks long and slim enough to pass through a barrel's bunghole.
Pour the reduced water into a barrel and suspend the bag in it. Add 8 shtofs of a strong spirit called pennoye vino, 8 pounds honey dissolved in water and 1 pound cream of tartar.
The liquid should be warm as fresh milk. Cover the bunghole loosely with cloth and leave for six weeks; the author elsewhere says vinegar should be ready after two months.