Pepper vinegar is another food item to file under “things I’d never come across until I moved to the Deep South”.

As the name suggests, it is simply vinegar infused with peppers and is a staple item on many a Southern table, but despite it being relatively easy to make it is a versatile condiment, adding a great hit of sour spicy flavour to anything you put it on. Collard greens are the classic partner for it but once you start using it you’ll be sprinkling it on all sort of dishes.

You can vary the flavour profile by playing about with the vinegar you use as well as the quantity and spiciness of the peppers you choose. My personal preference is for apple cider vinegar and a pretty potent heat level, so I like to throw some habanero peppers into the mix. A little of the resulting vinegar goes a long way.

Once made, the vinegar gets better as it gets older.

Hot Pepper Vinegar

12oz hot peppers (I used a mix of jalapeno, serrano, habanero and fresno peppers)

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1.5 tbs salt

Wash and drain the peppers, then make a small incision in each one.

Place the peppers in a sterilised quart jar. You can sterilise a jar in boiling water.

Put the vinegar and salt in a pan and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring until the salt dissolves.

Pour the hot vinegar over the peppers in the jar. Seal the jar and leave for a couple of weeks for the peppers to infuse the vinegar.

I decant the vinegar into a smaller pourer to use at the table and top up the jar with more vinegar / salt mix as I deplete the original vinegar.