The finest balsamic vinegars have no other ingredients added to them - only the trebbiano grapes. Lesser common vinegars will include brown sugar or caramel to simulate the sweetness of the balsamic vinegars. If a company creates a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar, they will also develop a less expensive, but quality vinegar as well.

View our free Balsamic vinaigrette Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Salad dressings.

Balsamic vinegar is Created by reduced white grapes (typically, trebbiano grapes) that has been boiled down to about 50% ("must") and fermenting that into alcohol. It is then once again fermented to balsamico vinegar, with a slow aging procedure done in oak casks that concentrates the flavours. The flavour is magnified over years, with the vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming sweet, thick and very concentrated in flavour. Some aged balsamico vinegar is added to the "must" to create a more complex and intricate taste, and to add acidity.

The thick syrup is transferred to oak casks to ferment in the open air and then begins the long evaporation and aging process that makes aged balsamic vinegar unique. Balsamic vinegar does not degenerate after opening as oxygen is part of the aging process, you can appreciate your finest bottle and use it on special recipes. Do not overheat or cook balsamic vinegar as it will destroy the flavour.

As a key component in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes particularly well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic vinaigrette is great with scallops, spinach and asparagus. A balsamic vinaigrette does well with winter vegetables such as carrots, turnips, squash and sweet potatoes, as well as new mixed greens or baby spinach.

The Mediterranean diet, characterized by cuisine such as Italian food, has been gaining popularity in North America, where the consumption of traditional Mediterranean foods, such as cold pressed olive oil and balsamic vinegar, has been increasing. Many people are finding this diet as a healthy alternative to fatty foods and deep fried food preparation.

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