Joe McNamee: I have long been obsessed with vinegar — here's why

Vinegar’s time in the spotlight is long overdue

Some of the Vinegars at Sauer, Ivo Duarte’s cutting-edge wild fermentation food business

I am finalising my Grub Circus programme for Cork on a Fork food festival in August, when my own live food-themed stage will fetch up at St Peter’s event centre in Cork City. I have curated and hosted Grub Circus around the country, but this will be the first time in my hometown and I hope it will be as blissfully chaotic and wildly entertaining as ever while celebrating the superb food and producers of the Rebel County.

But I needed a finishing touch. It came to me in the English Market, specifically at Sauer, Ivo Duarte’s cutting-edge wild fermentation food business. To the bread, cheese, and wine already being celebrated, I would add vinegar, a product with which I have long been obsessed.