18 year aged balsamic
balsamic Vinegar
is a traditional thick flavored vinegar usually used
in Tuscan gourmet cooking. It is frequently used as a salad
vinaigrette when combined with oil or as a marinade. It
is a traditional product developed in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Made since the Middle Ages and the
name is protected by the Italian government. Unlike
most common vinegars, it is dark and heavy with a complex,
sweet flavor and is much more expensive. True Balsamico
vinegar has been aged in casks 15 years or more.
The best balsamic vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the grapes. Lesser ones will include brown sugar or caramel
to feign the sweetness of the true balsamico. If a company
creates a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar,
they will also produce a less costly, but high quality
vinegar as well.
View
our complimentary Balsamic Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Dressings.
Balsamic vinegar is Created
by reduced 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 balsamic vinegar,
with a slow aging process
done in oak casks that concentrates
the flavours. The flavor is heightened over years,
with the vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming
sweet, syrupy and very concentrated in flavor. Some
older balsamic 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 best bottle
and use it on special entrees. Do
not overheat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will ruin the flavor.
As a key component
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic blends
especially well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with scallops,
artichokes and asparagus. A balsamic dressing 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.
