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Balsamic Recipies - Balsamic Salads - Types of Balsamic
Balsamic vinegar and salad go hand in hand. A virtually fat free condiment to spice up a boring patch of greens is always welcome at the dinner table. However, have you ever wondered how much to use, when to use it, or what is appropriate when dining elsewhere? The following passage should help clear things up.
For starters, you need to address which type of balsamic vinegar you have locked away in your cupboard. It will predictably be one of three types, all of which should be handled differently when applying to salad dishes.
The first of these is the commercial grade balsamic vinegar, which will tend to be cheapest and youngest of all bottles. This is the sort of bottle that you see lining the supermarket shelves. This can be applied to any dish that you choose. As it is likely to set you back as much as a pint of milk, you can be quite liberal with this stuff. Apply to taste on any type of green salads. Also, don’t be afraid to mix it in with some mayonnaise or sour cream to form a thick flavoursome condiment.
The second type is condimento vinegar, which will usually reside in either a specialist Italian market or supermarkets like Waitrose or Marks and Spencer. Condimento uses the ancient Italian fermenting techniques, however fails to wait the designated amount of time, bottling at around 5 or 6 years through the process. This is obviously going to be slightly more expensive and should be used with due care. Apply in sparse amounts and be careful not to drop or spill any.
The third type is the premier form of the Italian condiment. Balsamico tradizionale is the epitome of these selections and takes 12 years of fermenting to produce. The vinegar is kept in wooden barrels to perfect the taste that is quite extraordinary when released. This stuff is not only hard to come by, but extremely expensive. Therefore, if you do get your hands on a bottle, use it with soft flavoured ingredients allowing the full flavour to come through.
Occasionally, especially if you are keen advocate of using the black stuff as a condiment to most dishes, then you may become tired of its original format. As thick and refreshing as the taste it can always be an idea to spice it up by adding it to other ingredients to form an exciting salad dressing.
To start with, you will need to finely chop a quarter of an onion and a clove of garlic. Add this to a mixing bowl with some salt and pepper and some light herbs. You will then need to add a few tablespoons of olive oil, followed by the same amount of balsamic vinegar. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and then put in the blender (or whisk if you don’t have one available) for around 15 seconds. This removes the any chunks of the onion or garlic, but still leaves it with a thick texture. Then apply this dressing to your salad and sit down to enjoy a fantastic meal.
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