SC - SC- Lists of Foods

[Philip W. Troy]

Someone had mentioned a while back on the list that they wanted to
know when the use of Balsamic vinegar came about. I hate to say that I
have no idea myself, but I sure would love to know!

I don't always find that sour juice is easy to come by, and wouldn't
have been easy to get at certain times of the year in a
Medeival/Renaissance household. As such I usually substitute about
half of what I would use in Verjuice as a red wine vinegar and fortify
the other half with at least a 4 year old Balsamic vinegar (preferably
the 20 year old stuff, but that can be pretty darn expensive!)

For those of you who may not know, many of the balsamic vinegars you
find in the stores, especially the cheaper ones, are not barrel-aged
at all, but chemically aged and flavored to approximate true balsamic
vinegar. If you ever feel like spending the money for it, I HIGHLY
recommend trying a truly aged balsamic vinegar, preferably over 10
years old. I could just about eat it with a spoon, it is so sweet with
a nice tang to it. One of my favorite ingredients. 

I'll let everyone know if I find out anything and I would certainly
love to hear if anyone else has found out anything about how long
balsamic vinegar has been around.

Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org