Ättika

Ättika is a clear Swedish vinegar. It is acetic acid diluted with water, and the acid is often made synthetically, unlike vinäger, which is fermented. The standard kind is 12 percent acetic acid, which is more than twice as strong as the white vinegar sold in the US and UK, usually 5 percent. It tastes of pure sharp acid with no fruit or wine flavor. Swedes use it mainly for pickling.

Do not confuse it with ättiksprit, which is 24 percent acid, twice as strong as ättika. All the amounts on this page are for 12 percent ättika. If you only have ättiksprit, use half as much and handle it with care.

How to use it

Ättika is always diluted. The classic Swedish pickling liquid is called 1-2-3-lag:

• 1 deciliter (100 ml) ättika 12%
• 2 dl (200 ml) sugar
• 3 dl (300 ml) water

Bring it to a boil until the sugar dissolves, then cool. It is used for pickled herring, pickled red onion, beets (beetroot in the UK) and quick cucumber pickles (pressgurka). For cucumbers, many recipes add dill or krondill, allspice and bay leaf.

Substitutes

Use distilled white vinegar and adjust for the strength. Because 5 percent vinegar is about 2.4 times weaker, replace each 1 dl of ättika with about 240 ml (1 cup) of 5 percent vinegar, and use 140 ml less water.

For the 1-2-3 brine above, that gives:

Swedish recipe	With 5% vinegar
100 ml ättika 12%	240 ml (1 cup) white vinegar
200 ml sugar	200 ml (about ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon) sugar
300 ml water	160 ml (⅔ cup) water

Do not swap in cider, wine or rice vinegar unless you are happy with a different taste. They are also around 5 percent.

How to store it

Keep the bottle closed in a cupboard. It keeps indefinitely. Store it out of reach of children.

Common mistakes

• Using it straight. At 12 percent it is far too sour and can irritate skin and mouth. Always dilute.
• Mixing up ättika and ättiksprit. Ättiksprit is 24 percent, twice as strong again. Using it in a recipe written for ättika makes the brine far too sour. Use half as much, and handle it with care.
• Using 5 percent vinegar one for one. The pickles turn out weak and less safe to keep, because they are not acidic enough.

In recipes

Pickled herring, a centerpiece of the Swedish smörgåsbord, uses ättika in nearly every recipe. When a Swedish recipe says vinäger, it means a milder vinegar, such as wine vinegar, not ättika.