aceto balsamico tradizionale
aged balsamic Vinegar
is a traditional thick flavored vinegar ordinarily used
in Italian cooking. It is frequently used as a salad
vinaigrette when combined with virgin olive oil or as a marinade. It
is a traditional food product developed in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Made 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 taste and is much more expensive. True Balsamic
vinegar has been aged fifteen years or more.
The primo balsamic vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the grapes. Lesser vinegars will add brown sugar or caramel
to simulate the sweetness of the true balsamico. If a company
creates a "traditional" balsamico vinegar,
they will also create a less expensive, but high quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Balsamic vinaigrette Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Dressings.
Balsamic vinegar is Created
by concentrated 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 barrels that concentrates
the flavors. The flavor is magnified over years,
with the vinegar being kept in fine wood barrels, becoming
sweet, syrupy and very concentrated in flavor. Some
aged balsamic vinegar is added to the "must"
to make 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 evaporation and aging process
that makes aged balsamico vinegar striking and unique. Balsamic vinegar
does not deteriorate after opening as oxygen is part
of the aging process, you can cherish your best bottle
and use it on special entrees. Do
not heat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will ruin the flavour.
As a key component
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
very well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with seafood,
spinach and asparagus. A balsamic vinaigrette does well
with winter vegetables 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.
