aceto balsamico
balsamic Vinegar
is a traditional heavy flavored vinegar ordinarily used
in Italian gourmet cooking. It is typically used as a salad
dressing when combined with olive oil or as a marinade. It
is a traditional food product that was 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 very dark and thick with a complex,
sweet taste and is much more expensive. True Balsamic
vinegar has been aged 15 years or more.
The primo balsamic vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the grapes. Lesser common vinegars will add brown sugar or caramel
to feign the sweetness of the true balsamic vinegars. If a company
makes a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar,
they will also develop a less expensive, but high 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 flavors. The flavor is magnified over years,
with the aged balsamic 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 produce 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 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 treasure your best bottle
and use it on special entrees. Do
not heat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will destroy the flavour.
As a key ingredient
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
very well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with seafood,
artichokes and asparagus. A balsamic salad dressing 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.
