balsamic vinegar
balsamico Vinegar
is a authentic heavy flavoured vinegar ordinarily used
in Italian cooking. It is often used as a salad
dressing when combined with vinegar or as a marinade. It
is a traditional import originating in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Created 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 costly. True Balsamic
vinegar has been aged fifteen years and upwards.
The finest balsamico vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the trebbiano grapes. Lesser ones will add brown sugar or caramel
to simulate the sweetness of the true balsamico. If a company
creates a "traditional" aged balsamic vinegar,
they will also develop a less expensive, but quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Gourmet Balsamic vinaigrette Recipes.
Oil and vinegar Balsamic Salad 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 casks that concentrates
the flavors. The flavor is magnified over decades,
with the balsamic vinegar being kept in fine wood barrels, becoming
sweet, thick and very concentrated in flavor. Some
aged balsamico vinegar is added to the "must"
to make 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 balsamic vinegar striking and unique. Balsamic vinegar
does not degenerate after opening as oxygen is part
of the aging process, you can treasure your finest bottle
and use it on special entrees. Do
not overheat or cook balsamic vinegar
as it will destroy the flavor.
As a key ingredient
in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic goes
very well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with seafood,
fresh spinach and asparagus. A balsamic salad dressing does well
with winter vegetables such as carrots, turnips, squash
and sweet potatoes, as well as fresh 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.
