Normandyjug is the snazzy name of an exceptionally high-quality, naturally fermented apple cider vinegar made in Normandy. It is produced using a traditional method known as the Orleans Method, which transforms apples into complex and highly flavoured vinegar. The vinegar is aged in oak caskets for a full 12 months, and the wild yeasts indigenous to this region add a unique and unmistakably French flavor.
The jug is a staple of the French table and can be enjoyed as a simple, everyday condiment on toast, sandwiches or simply as a healthy addition to salads. It has a sweet, delicately acidic taste and is the perfect complement to meat and fish dishes.
An Insight into Ethel Sands
One of the most renowned impressionist painters in Britain, Ethel Sands is best remembered for her paintings of rural life, such as Flowers in a Jug (see below). Her work was highly influenced by the Fitzroy Street Group, which sought to promote a new kind of naturalism in art, but it is also clear that she derived much of her imagery from the countryside of her native Normandy.
Her work reflects an innate ties to her rural origins, a point that Millet affirmed in his own letters and pronouncements on his art. These ties bound his rural imagery to his remembrance of his own childhood in Normandy, which served as an index to the authenticity and personal resonance of his works.