Vinegar
Vinagre
- Date
- c. 3000 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Babylon, Babil, Iraq
- Credited to
- Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An acidic liquid produced when acetic bacteria oxidise the ethanol of wine or beer. From very early on it served as a condiment, a pickling preservative and a disinfectant.
Date vinegar in Babylon and traces in Egyptian jars around 3000 BC are cited, but these are secondary references with little published archaeological basis; vinegar appears inevitably wherever wine or beer exists.
What it led to
- acid pickles and preserves of vegetables and fish
- sweet-and-sour sauces and dressings of ancient cooking
- use as a disinfectant and medicinal remedy