balsamic vinager
aged balsamic Vinegar
is a traditional heavy flavored vinegar commonly used
in Tuscan cooking. It is typically used as a salad
vinaigrette when combined with vinegar or as a marinade. It
is a traditional product developed in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Created since the Middle Ages and the
name is protected by the Italian government. Unlike
common vinegars, it is dark and viscous with a complex,
sweet taste and is much more expensive. True Balsamico
vinegar has been aged in casks 15 years and upwards.
The finest aged 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 balsamic vinegars. If a company
makes a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar,
they will also make a less costly, but high quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Balsamic Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Vinaigrettes.
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 balsamic vinegar,
with a slow aging process
done in oak barrels that concentrates
the flavours. The flavour is intensified over decades,
with the vinegar being kept in fine oak barrels, becoming
sweet, syrupy 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 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 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 taste.
As a key ingredient
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
particularly well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is wonderful with lobster,
artichokes and asparagus. A balsamic dressing does well
with winter veggies 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.
