balsamic
balsamic Vinegar
is a authentic thick flavoured vinegar usually used
in Tuscan food preparation. It is sometimes used as a salad
vinaigrette when combined with olive oil or as a marinade. It
is a traditional product originating in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Produced since the Middle Ages and the
brand is protected by the Italian government. Unlike
common vinegars, it is very dark and heavy with a complex,
sweet flavor and is much more costly. True Balsamico
vinegar has been aged in casks 15 years or more.
The primo balsamic vinegars
have no other ingredients added to them - only
the trebbiano grapes. Lesser vinegars will add brown sugar or caramel
to mimic the sweetness of the better ones. If a company
produces a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar,
they will also develop a less costly, but high quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Balsamic Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Salad dressings.
Balsamic vinegar is Produced
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 process
done in wood casks that concentrates
the flavours. The flavor is intensified over years,
with the balsamic vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming
sweet, syrupy and very concentrated in flavour. Some
aged balsamico 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 begins the long dehydration and aging process
that makes aged balsamico vinegar unique. Balsamic vinegar
does not go bad after opening as oxygen is part
of the aging process, you can appreciate your finest bottle
and use it on special entrees. Do
not heat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will ruin the taste.
As a key component
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
especially well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is outstanding with lobster and scallops,
spinach and asparagus. A balsamic dressing 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.
