（摘錄轉載自105年11月《台灣光華雜誌》全文請參考http://www.taiwan-panorama.com/）

提要

在品味領域中，「醋」用量最少，卻往往最具畫龍點睛的醒味作用。據《論語》記載，孔子曾表示：「割不正不食，不得其醬不食。」肉羹麵加入一勺烏醋、小籠包沾上薑絲米醋、麻醬麵拌上幾滴白醋……，如果少了這關鍵調料，美食風味就像失了靈魂，但您也許不知道，釀得一瓶好醋，可是與時間、空間打交道的一場等待，而其中最困難之處，是遵循古法釀製。

The story of Chinese vinegar begins with a man by the name of Du Kang, who discovered how to ferment wine. He passed on his technique to his son Hei Ta, who was quite enamored with the discovery. Once, while fermenting a batch, he embarked on a three-day drinking spree, and in his sozzled state he accidentally left the vat sitting too long, finally checking up on it after 21 days. When he lifted the lid, he was met with an unexpectedly pungent scent. He tasted the brew, finding it to be at once tart, sweet and fragrant, and stimulating to the appetite. Thus he became the founder of the craft of vinegar making.

In terms of production, modern vinegars can be divided into naturally fermented, chemically synthesized, and "flavored" (naturally fermented vinegars with added fruit juice). Cost considerations are making traditionally fermented vinegars increasingly rare, but in Taiwan, one brand in particular is an icon of traditional fermentation: Wu Yin vinegar from the century-old firm Gao Ji.

Stepping into Gao Ji's plant in Shulin, New Taipei City, we are ushered over to the rice steaming area by fifth-generation company head Gao Qiping. The air is saturated with steam and the scent of the Taiwan-grown glutinous rice that is the primary ingredient in the company's vinegars. Gao emphasizes that since its establishment in 1903 after his family made the trip across the Taiwan Strait, they have insisted on only using rice grown in Yunlin, Chiayi, and Tainan.

Next to the rice steaming area is a temperature controlled cool room that is open year-round for the cultivation of wheatgrass, the "secret weapon" that makes Wu Yin vinegar what it is.

"We use wheatgrass to promote the natural acidifying enzymes. It might not be as quick as adding chemical ingredients, but the flavor and nutritional value are well beyond any synthetic vinegar," says Gao.

Fermenting good vinegar needs both space and time, and so sticking to the traditional methods can make it a challenging way to make a living. Gao Qiping points over to the rows of vats: "Our vinegar needs at least eight months to ferment and there are only so many vats we can fit in, so even if we wanted to make more vinegar more quickly, there’s no way we could."

Gao Qiping himself literally consumes vinegar every day, and it is to this that he attributes his continuing youthfulness even as he approaches 50. Naturally fermented vinegar, he says, contains a number of microorganisms and active enzymes that are beneficial for health. However, he also consumes a little figurative vinegar, offering this as food for thought: "I don't understand why vinegar is so much cheaper than wine. You can make wine in a few weeks, but good vinegar takes months, right?" he laughs.

In this age of concerns over food safety and increased emphasis on where our food and its ingredients come from, the traditional methods of making vinegar are again coming into the spotlight. Taiwan is home to no small number of people in different places producing their own natural vinegars with their own flavors and by their own methods. These sour vinegars look to be providing many with a sweeter life.

翻譯

相傳在古代山西省運城縣，有個叫杜康的人發明了酒，他將釀酒技術傳給兒子黑塔，愛喝酒的黑塔某次酩酊大醉三日，錯過在窖裡發酵酒釀的蒸餾時間，遲至第二十一日的酉時才前去開缸，沒想打開陶缸後飄出一股撲鼻酸香之味，品嘗之後竟然酸甜兼具別有風味，甚至還有開胃的功效，於是以二十一日加「酉」字來命名這種酸味調料為「醋」，黑塔則被尊為「醋祖」。

以食醋的生產方式，大致可分為釀造醋、合成醋、調理醋。

基於成本考量，堅持古法的釀造醋已愈來愈不多見，在台灣傳承百年的高記「五印醋」，可說是最具代表性的老品牌之一。

走進位於新北市樹林區的高記工廠中，潔淨寬敞的環境與印象中多數的傳統食品產業不太相同，第五代傳人高奇平直接帶著我們進入炊米的區域，陣陣醇濃糯米香氣伴隨著高溫蒸汽揮散空中，一旁浸泡整晚的台灣圓糯米就是高家釀醋的主要原料，高奇平強調，創立於一九○三年的家業，自渡海來台以後就一直使用雲嘉南生產的台灣好米，這項堅持也將會繼續傳承下去。

炊米區隔壁有間終年開著恆溫空調的冷房，這裡是小麥草的培育室，藏著讓五印醋完美發酵的獨門祕方。

「我們的醋是用小麥草當作促進酸化的天然酵素，發酵速度上不如使用化學添加物來得快，但所釀出來的味道與營養成分絕對是人工合成醋無法比擬的。」高奇平語氣堅定地說，就是因為這項原料，老客戶都稱高家的醋是小麥醋，而將蒸熟的圓糯米拌入自家培育的小麥草，就是這純釀老醋的主要原料。

好醋佳釀必須在時間與空間雙重條件的結合之下，才得以蛻變展現，釀醋前得先配合著小麥草發芽的時程，以決定炊米時間，再配合著溫度、溼度條件，觀察醋酸菌種的發酵狀況，高奇平笑說，遵古法釀製的過程，其實也是看天吃飯，他指著一排排陳列的老缸表示，「我們的醋需要八個月以上的釀製期，而缸就只有這麼多，想求快、求多都是沒有辦法的。」

高奇平也天天「吃醋」，這讓年近半百的他看起來比實際年齡年輕許多，他說天然純釀的醋中含有不少好菌，本身就是具有活性的酵素，明朝李時珍《本草綱目》記載，醋可消腫、去水氣、殺邪毒、理諸藥；而兩度獲得諾貝爾獎的Krebs博士，他的著作《醋之理論》也以科學證明，醋發酵產生的微生物可以分解氧化體內的食物。

高奇平說，醋稱得上是最平價的健康飲品，但他心裡也常有一點小小的「吃醋」，為什麼？他提出了一項思考，「我一直不明白，為什麼醋會比酒便宜許多，釀酒只要二十幾天，釀醋可是要花上好幾個月，你說是不是……」，高奇平笑著說。

之前以小酒罈子裝醋，在封好的罈口四個面分別貼上紅紙，並蓋上五個大印，「五印醋」之名因而傳聞於鄉里，而如今食安風暴過後，消費者重視食材來源，遵古法釀製的醋也再次受到重視，在台灣，也有不少的老醋缸在各地發酵，無論口味、做法如何，選擇天然發酵的才真的是「醋醋有生機」。