Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Vinegar
© Denzil Green

Balsamic Vinegar is made primarily from the juice of white Trebbiano grapes, which is boiled slowly down to a syrup. (Other grapes used can be Spergola, Berzemino, and Occhio di Gatto.) The syrup (or "must") is aged in wooden barrels, and topped up with some older Balsamic Vinegar.

Balsam is a "fragrant resin" that comes out of wood. The balsams that flavour Balsamic Vinegar come into it naturally as it ages in different kinds of wooden barrels. There is a small window in the top of each barrel to allow evaporation. Each window is covered by a cloth doily to keep dust out. The approved woods that can be used for the barrels are ash, juniper, mulberry, chestnut, acacia, cherry and oak. Each year the vinegar is transferred to a barrel of a different wood, so that it can take on the different flavours.

The resultant vinegar is a brown, thick syrup vinegar, with a sweet and sour flavour.

Balsamic Vinegar labelled "Traditional" is very expensive. It takes anywhere from 12 to 25 years to make (12 years for a Tradizionale bottle, 25 years for "Tradizionale extra vecchio".) Some balsamics are even aged 50 years. It can only be made in the Modena and Reggio regions of Italy, by law (European law), and it can only be made by members of a Consortium called "Consortium of the Producers of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena." And, to top it off, members of the Consortium are only allowed to make so much each. So, yes it costs a lot because it takes time to make, but the producers are also strictly controlling the supply to keep the price high -- all, of course, for the protection of the consumer.

Traditional isn't the only kind, however. Some pretty decent stuff is also produced in the Modena region, but because it's mass produced, it can't be called "Traditional". And, there are dirt-cheap knock-off Balsamic Vinegars made in America, Canada and the UK. These knock-offs have a bit of Balsamic Vinegar in them, to which wine vinegar is added, and then brown sugar or caramel to both sweeten the vinegar and give it the dark colour. Note that true Balsamic does not start from wine, but from juice.

Expensive Balsamics can easily start at £42 / $70 US a litre (Oct 2003), though they are usually sold in smaller 250ml bottles.

Aceto Balsamico di Modena is a lower grade that starts with boiled grape juice, fresh grape juice and wine vinegar. It is matured for less time than Tradizionale. It has a milder flavour, which sometimes can actually be advantageous in some dishes. Unlike Tradizonale, this is the one to use as an ingredient in things.

Cooking Tips

If you are using the most expensive Balsamics, such as a Tradizonale shouldn't be used in cooking a dish, or even in a dressing. It is wasteful of these higher grades to use them like that; a lower grade one will do that job fine. Instead, a Tradizonale should be used as a table condiment on food such as risotto or strawberries. Use only a very small amount, almost as though you were applying it with an eye-dropper. Some foodies actually have do eye droppers or spray atomizers that they use.
Whatever grade of Balsamic Vinegar you are using in cooking, add it at the end so that the flavour doesn't get cooked out;
Can be used to deglaze a meat pan.

Substitutes
Another kind of vinegar, such as red wine vinegar mixed with a bit of honey or sugar, or fruit or sherry vinegar, if you have any to hand. In cooking and glazing, red vermouth. Or, try Black Rice Vinegar.

History
Balsamic Vinegar was known to the Greeks, and they still make Balsamic Vinegar, but the Italians now claim it as their own. Up to the Middle Ages, the sugar-rich Trebbiano grape was used primarily for wine. By about the 1200s, it seems to have been generally decided that what was being made was more a vinegar than a wine, owing to the high acidity in these grapes, and efforts were focussed in that direction. References to "balsamic" earlier than that in Italy may be more to a wine than a vinegar.

Literature & Lore
Balsamon in Greek, means "reliever" or medicine. Balsamic Vinegar was often seen as a restorative or as a cure for some ills.

Also called: Vinaigre balsamique (French) Balsamessig (German) Aceto balsamico, Aceto di balsamico (Italian) Vinagre balsámico (Spanish)