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Balsamic Recipies - Balsamic Salads - Types of Balsamic
You may be used to pouring on smart price balsamic vinegar on your salad or summer vegetables, but you might not know that this is not the only form of the cracking Italian condiment. It actually takes on a few other guises, which include years of preparation and skill to produce.
Traditional balsamic vinegar or balsamico tradizionale is the most original form this ancient recipe. It is made by the fermentation of boiled grape extract, and then is left for over a decade. During this period, it spends the time in a wooden casket, which is made from a selection of woods. Oak, Cherry, Mulberry, Ash or Chestnut is used to encase the syrup in a thick barrel. This lengthy time causes the product to gather an unrivalled taste whilst it begins dating. Only after a minimum of 12 years is the finished product allowed to escape, upon which it is placed in several glass bottles.
The taste of a balsamico tradizionale is in complete contrast to any other form. Its time to ferment causes a combination of flavours that interconnect delightfully. In comparison to the often sharp, acidic qualities it is balanced with sweetness and a note of wood from the barrels.
For anyone enticed enough by the above glorification, balsamico tradizionale is available, but in very sparse quantities and at very expensive prices. Only two distributors of the product remain, which are Reggio Emilla and Modena. Prices range from between £90 – 300 for a small bottle so be careful, if you do choose to buy, not to spill a drop. Look out for the colour of the label too – red indicates a 12 year old, whereas gold indicates a 25-year-old bottle.
The second type of balsamic vinegar is the one, which us in the UK will be most familiar with – commercial grade. Commercial grade balsamic vinegar is a western creation that was born in the 1980’s. Often credit is given to Italian food critic and author Marcella Hazan for its introduction across the Atlantic, and from this point onwards it has undergone a dramatic transformation. Like only the Brits and Americans do best, the original recipe was dispatched in favour of cheaper and more efficient alternatives. Balsamic vinegar started to be produced on an industrial scale, using a combination of additives and wine vinegar to get somewhere near the original taste. Instead of being nurtured in wooden barrels for over a decade, it was farmed out in factories producing millions of gallons of the new formula.
You can find bottles of this version of balsamic vinegar at any useful supermarket. Depending on the quantity, this will be priced at around £1.00 per bottle.
The third and final type of balsamic vinegar is called condimento. This is a combination of the above two. Although not manufactured in Modena or Reggio Emilla, it is produced in Italy, just without the strict production legislation of the prior two. This begins the same journey as balsamico tradizionale, however the fluid is removed before the 12-year deadline.
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