What is Sherry Vinegar and is there a substitution for it?

[CHRIST1NE]

I made the Sea Bass recipe from June of last year (w/the coucous and tomato vinaigrette) - it called for sherry vinegar. I wasn't able to find it anywhere so I left it out.

Have any of you ever seen it, or are you aware of a suitable substitution? I thought about throwing in a little sherry and vinegar, but wasn't sure which vinegar to use (white, cider, red wine, white wine etc.)

[Grace]

Sherry vinegar comes from Spain. I found it at Whole Foods. I would imagine you could find it online too (i.e, www.ethnicgrocer.com ). I can't tell you what a good substitution is, but I would say that it's got a wonderful distinctive taste and it's worth finding. Oh, and it's a dark, caramely color - not clear or white, if that helps.

Maybe Ralph will jump in here - he knows that substitution website and usually posts what he finds here....so, Ralph? What say you?!

[sushibones]

Well, I'm not Ralph, but I also refer to the Cook's Thesaurus website pretty frequently. Here is practically everything you need to know about vinegars from the website. Who knew there were that many vinegars?

http://www.foodsubs.com/Vinegars.html

You have to scroll down a bit for the entry for sherry vinegar. Balsamic or red wine vinegar is listed as a substitute for sherry vinegar. So is rice vinegar, but I don't think it would have the right body or taste as a substitute. Rice vinegar is pretty mild.

And here's the link for the Cook's Thesaurus search page for all those other vexing substitution questions you may have:

http://www.foodsubs.com/

[CHRIST1NE]

Thanks, Susan and Grace. It never seases to amaze me the knowledge that lingers around the BB.

Grace, this meal was so good, I may have to order a bottle just for this dish.

Has anyone made this dish with one of the substitutions?