why is chip shop vinegar not available in supermarkets, it , i assume, is malt vinegar but all the malt vinegars from shops are far too bitter and hence completely different and certainly not chip shop vinegar -so is it a particular type/brand.name?
I absolutely hate vinegar. Even the smell of someone eating salt and vinegar crisps makes me feel ill. So I can hardly be regarded as an expert on the stuff. But even I know that almost every supermarket in the country stocks 'Chip Shop Style Vinegar'. It's made by various companies including Sarsons and Cross & Blackwell.
"Non-brewed condiment" is on sale at our local Tesco. It's simply artificially produced acetic acid. It may be inferior to natural vinegars, but because it's been traditionally used by chip shops for so long, people hanker after its taste. I know I do, and I definitely prefer it to malt vinegar on my chips.
A friend of mine has a chip shop and his vinegar is a concentrated mix and you have to water it down a lot or risk taking the skin out of your mouth, I think it's mixed 1 part vinegar to 10 parts water.
Disco Fever, there's some white vinegar like that in Germany. People use it to de-scale their kettles and such like it's that strong! :) The vapour from it is enough to clear a cold :)