SC - Vinegar

[Tom Brady]

At 04:33 PM 4/15/97 +1000, Fiona Porteous asked:
>Is balsamic vinegar a. period and b. appropriate to any use here?  (Is that
>champagne vinegar?)

I just took a quick cruise around the web to see what I could find. At the
web site of Alessi, one of the larger commercial balsamic vinegar
producers, they say (at http://www.vigo.com/BALSAMIC.htm):

"Balsamic vinegar has been made for hundreds of years. It originated in the
Modena region of Italy, and until recently only those regions were
privileged to experience its delights. It is recorded that in 1046 A.D.,
Boniface, marquis of Bologna, made a gift of Balsamic Vinegar to Henry III,
the Holy Roman Emperor. Like in wine making, each family had their own
special recipe. The Balsamic Vinegar was aged up to 25 years or more, and
sometimes spiced with herbs and seasonings. "

Take this as you will - remember, though, that foods with a long history
make for great marketing.

Balsamic vinegar (or aceto balsamico, if you prefer) is most certainly not
the same thing as champagne vinegar. The latter, obviously is made from
champagne, which is allowed (or encouraged) to turn to vinegar. According
to the web site of Master Choice (http://www.masterchoice.com/vinegar.htm),
another commercial balsamic vinegar producer, the traditional production
goes like this:

"After pressing, the juices of the trebbiano and lambrusco grapes that are
typical to the Emilia-Romagna region are blended and boiled over fire, and
then poured into barrels of oak, chestnut, cherry, mulberry and ash. For
years, the juice ages, ferments and condenses naturally, gradually
transforming into vinegar. Every year, the liquid is mixed with younger
vinegars and placed in a series of smaller and smaller barrels. The vinegar
absorbs much of its aroma from the oak and its color from the chestnut.
Then after five years, the vinegar is bottled."

That's the theory, anyway. Sadly, much of the cheap balsamic vinegar on the
market today is basically red wine vinegar cut with small amounts of
balsamic vinegar (not unlike Kona coffee, for instance, which sometimes has
as little as 3% Kona beans). You can get the traditionally made stuff, but
if you paid less than $15-20/bottle for it, it's probably cut with red wine
vinegar.

Mind you, this doesn't mean that the cheap stuff isn't fine to use, if you
like it. Heck, I use the cheap stuff 'cause I can't afford to pay twenty
bucks for vinegar. Just understand what it is.

- -Duncan, who recommends a dessert of fresh strawberries in balsamic vinegar
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Brady    tabrady at mindspring.com   SCA: Duncan MacKinnon of Tobermory
 See my web pages for links to the Society for Creative Anachronism and 
      gay and lesbian info: http://www.technomancer.com/~duncan/