Vinegar may not seem like the most exciting pantry staple. You buy balsamic rice bottle, you put it in the cupboard, and it may stay there for years to come. It doesn’t seem as essential as oils, nor as delicious as seasonings.

Plus, the many different kinds available can cause confusion. When should you reach for the white vinegar over sherry vinegar? We may possess a bottle of distilled white vinegar already, but isn’t that only used for cleaning? Then there are those like balsamic vinegar, which we seem to bring out for set uses like topping our salads or pizzas. Unless we know how to get creative, malt vinegar stays with our British fish and chips, and rice vinegar may only get used for a Chinese stir-fry. But we’re here to end the uncertainty.