balsamic vinegar
balsamic Vinegar
is a traditional heavy flavored vinegar typically used
in Italian cooking. It is typically used as a salad
vinaigrette when combined with oil or as a marinade. It
is a traditional product that was developed in Modena, Italy,
where it has been Created since the Middle Ages and the
brand is protected by the Italian government. Unlike
common vinegars, it is dark and thick with a complex,
sweet taste and is much more costly. True Balsamico
vinegar has been aged in casks fifteen years and upwards.
The primo balsamic vinegars
have nothing else added to them - only
the trebbiano grapes. Lesser vinegars will include brown sugar or caramel
to imitate the sweetness of the true balsamico. If a company
produces a "traditional" balsamico vinegar,
they will also create a less expensive, but quality
vinegar as well.
View
our free Balsamic 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 process
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, viscous and very concentrated in flavour. Some
older 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 starts the long evaporation and aging process
that makes aged balsamic vinegar unusual. Balsamic vinegar
does not go bad after opening as oxygen is part
of the aging process, you can treasure your finest 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 blends
particularly well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic
vinaigrette is great with lobster and scallops,
artichokes and asparagus. A balsamic dressing does well
with winter veggies 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.
