The finest balsamico vinegars have nothing else added to them - only the grapes. Lesser vinegars will add brown sugar or caramel to feign the sweetness of the balsamic vinegars. If a company makes a "traditional" balsamico vinegar, they will also create a less expensive, but high quality vinegar as well.

View our free Gourmet 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 balsamic vinegar, with a slow aging procedure done in wood casks that concentrates the flavors. The flavour is intensified over decades, with the aged balsamic vinegar being kept in fine wood barrels, becoming sweet, viscous 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 thick syrup is transferred to oak casks to ferment in the open air and then begins the long dehydration and aging process that makes aged balsamic vinegar unusual. Balsamic vinegar does not degenerate after opening as oxygen is part of the aging process, you can treasure your best bottle and use it on special occasions. Do not overheat or cook balsamic vinegar as it will ruin the flavor.

As a key component in vinaigrette dressings, balsamic blends very well with olive oil. Olive oil-balsamic vinaigrette is wonderful with 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.

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