18 year aged balsamic
balsamic Vinegar
is a authentic viscous flavoured vinegar usually used
in Italian gourmet cooking. It is sometimes used as a salad
dressing when combined with vinegar or as a marinade. It
is a traditional import that was developed in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Produced since the Middle Ages and the
name is protected by the Italian government. Unlike
table vinegars, it is dark and thick with a complex,
sweet flavor and is much more costly. True Balsamico
vinegar has been aged in casks fifteen years or more.
The best aged balsamic vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the trebbiano grapes. Lesser common vinegars will include brown sugar or caramel
to feign the sweetness of the true balsamic vinegars. If a company
produces a "traditional" balsamico vinegar,
they will also create a less costly, but high quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Gourmet Balsamic Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Salad dressings.
Balsamic vinegar is Produced
by concentrated white grapes (typically,
trebbiano grapes) that has been boiled down to approximately
50% ("must") and fermenting that into alcohol.
It is then once again fermented to balsamico vinegar,
with a slow aging process
done in wood barrels that concentrates
the flavors. The flavor is deepened over decades,
with the vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming
sweet, thick and very concentrated in flavour. Some
older balsamico vinegar is added to the "must"
to create a more complex and intricate taste, and to
add acidity.
The syrup is transferred
to oak casks to ferment in the open
air and then starts the long dehydration and aging process
that makes aged balsamico vinegar unusual. Balsamic vinegar
does not go bad after opening as oxygen is part
of the aging process, you can appreciate your best bottle
and use it on special occasions. Do
not heat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will ruin the flavor.
As a key component
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
very well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with scallops,
spinach and asparagus. A balsamic vinaigrette does well
with winter veggies such as carrots, turnips, squash
and sweet potatoes, as well as spring 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.
