04/09/2026
Did you know cream of tartar comes out of wine barrels?
It's potassium bitartrate. As grape juice ferments, tartaric acid crystallises on the inside of the barrels and tanks. Those crystals get scraped out, purified and ground into the white powder sitting in your baking cupboard.
Which explains what it does. It's an acid. A pinch into egg whites stabilises the foam so your meringue holds instead of weeping. A pinch into a sugar syrup stops the sugar crystallising and going grainy.
Considering how much wine this country makes, it's a fairly local ingredient by accident.
