When shopping for Italian food items for your planned Italian food night, one ingredient that foodies place in their food carts is Italian balsamic vinegar. This thick, sweet-smelling vinegar is made from the pure, unfermented juice of a grape called the “must.” While there have been different varieties of grapes used to come up with this staple of Italian cuisine, the Trebbiano grape-native to Modena, Italy-is the most common. Other grape varieties used in the making of this vinegar include Ancellotta, Sauvignon, and Lambrusco.

How then did vinegar such as this come about? Vinegar is produced through the oxidation of a fermented liquid, which can include fruit juice, cider, and malt. In addition to these, an acetic acid bacterium, along with a cellulose slime known as “the mother of vinegar,” is added. This oxidizes the liquid, which in turn results in vinegar. In the past, Italian balsamic vinegar was not oxidized, but was instead a kind of grape juice reduction. Today, it is produced like most other vinegars on the market.

Make your food night special by using gourmet Italian balsamic vinegar. This type is slowly aged in wooden barrels, and the manufacturers of this kind of vinegar have their own process and formula for aging it. Often, the vinegar is moved from one wood barrel to another in order to create its signature flavor. Some of the more common types of wood used in making the barrels include ash, cherry, oak, juniper, and chestnut.

A bottle of Italian balsamic vinegar starts out this way. It begins by boiling the grape juice until it becomes thick syrup. After which, it is then transferred to the wooden barrels to begin the aging process. Bacteria are then added, oxidizing the juice in the process and turning it into vinegar. This lasts from as short as 6 months to as long as a few years. If you want authentic Italian food items, avoid your average grocery. The balsamic vinegar you find here is often aged a few months in stainless steel tanks.

Italian balsamic vinegar is great as cooking ingredient or as a tangy salad dressing. Use balsamic vinegar as a marinade or sauce for grilled, roasted, and broiled dishes. As you start cooking with it, you will notice that your dishes develop a caramelized flavor along the way. Salad lovers will enjoy blending small amounts of oil along with the vinegar and other ingredients. The result is a balsamic dressing that is both rich and slightly sweet, with a very complex flavor.

Apart from using it on your salad and various meat and seafood dishes, Italian balsamic vinegar dressing can also be used as a bread dip. You can even use it as a dessert sauce by mixing it in with figs. An Italian balsamic and fig dressing is excellent whenever you pair it with old-fashioned Vanilla ice cream.

Italian food items similar to this are heart-healthy products, which is why balsamic vinegar is a staple of low-carb diets like the South Beach diet. The term “Balsamic” means “restorative” or “health giving.” Don’t miss out on adding this to your list of ingredients as you are doing the grocery. Get Italian balsamic vinegar for that authentic old world taste!

Larry Mcbride loves to prepare dinner using Italian balsamic vinegar and knows in which you are able to get outstanding Italian food products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_McBride

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Technorati Tags: balsamic vinegar of Modena, benefits of balsamic vinegar, Italian balsamic vinegar, luxury recipes, Recipes Of Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic vinegar originates from Italy and enhances the flavors of many dishes. However, what you find in supermarkets is very different from traditional balsamic vinegar produced in Italy. Do not be confused and think they are the same.

Firstly, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar can legally only be produced in regions authorized by the Italian government. There are only 2 such regions in Italy, and Modena is one of them.

Balsamic vinegar starts with the Trebbiano grapes. These grapes are grown in Modena so that they can be harvested under the most favorable conditions. After they are harvested, they are gently crushed into juice and cooked over an open flame under very specific conditions over a period of 30 hours until most of the liquid has evaporated, leaving a thick syrup called “must.” This long process requires skills and precision that is passed down for generations.

When cooled, the must is paired with an older vinegar called the “mother” and stored in wooden casks. These casks can only be made of specific types of wood, namely mulberry, chestnut, acacia, oak, cherry and ash. While the vinegar is aging in the cask, each kind of wood infuses the vinegar with a unique subtle flavor. These casks are then stored in attics so that they can be exposed to the naturally alternating hot and cold climate of Modena, Italy. This change in climate over the years is essential to the aging process of the vinegar.

As the aging process plays out, the vinegar intensifies in flavor and aroma. A portion of the vinegar evaporates and hence it is transferred into smaller and smaller casks. The process of transferring casks requires precision and intense effort, and is carefully executed every season until the vinegar reaches 12, 25, 50 and 100 years old and is ready to be bottled.

However, the manufacturing process does not end here. Only an exclusive consortium comprising of a hundred select families can produce true traditional balsamic vinegar. To ensure that the product is of the highest quality, the vinegar must be certified to prove that it has undergone the strict production process and is worthy of the Consorzio label. A panel of 5 expert tasters tastes the balsamic, which has been aged for at least 12 years. This is to make sure that the product conforms to strict criteria regarding appearance, smell and taste. If it contains the slightest flaw, it cannot be bottled.

If the vinegar passes the expert panel’s taste test, the bottle is sealed with the consortium seal and Italian government designation D.O.C. (Denominazione di Origine Controllata). Since only about 3000 gallons of traditional balsamic vinegar is produced each year, every bottle is registered and numbered to guarantee its authenticity.

This rare condiment also contains many surprising healing properties. Since it comes from grapes, it contains antioxidants and important minerals which can fight against heart diseases, prevent anemia, boost the digestive system and suppress appetite, which can help with weight management.

Every step taken to produce a bottle of true traditional balsamic vinegar guarantees a superior product down to the last drop.

Technorati Tags: Balsamic Vinegar, balsamic vinegar of Italy, Italian balsamic vinegar, traditional balsamic vinegar

“Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.” – Bertrand Russell

The strains of classic Italian folk music are heard in the distance as the doors open on something new, yet something altogether regal. The villa in Carpi is one of Italy’s national historic landmarks and the Villa Bellentani sits as one of its crown jewels. Built in the 18th century, the Villa Bellentani harkens to an era of rich heritage and rural sensibilities. Now, this same villa is a perfect blend or uncommon historic beauty coupled with state of the art facilities for aging balsamic vinegar for yet another appreciative generation.

It’s plain to see that the world has discovered a special love affair with Modena balsamic vinegar, yet it is also true that two other facts are equally evident. 1) There doesn’t seem to be enough quality balsamic vinegar to meet growing world demand and, 2) while inferior vinegars are easily obtained they spoil the pristine image and taste of true, aged balsamic vinegar. The Italian producer Villa Bellentani is making efforts to offer some of Modena’s best vinegar, yet preserve the integrity of the balsamico heritage.

It was with a deep respect for the thousand year History Of Balsamic Vinegar that Italian vineyard growers join with producers at Villa Bellentani to develop quality aged balsamic vinegar that holds to the timeless traditions of Italy’s finest producers.

Americans discovered balsamic vinegar in the 1980’s, but it was tradition passed down from father to son over many centuries that resulted in the ‘overnight success’ of the finest vinegars the world has ever known.

The same country that brought you such notable artists as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci as part of the Renaissance also provides a culinary artistry that offers incomparable quality and taste – the wonderfully adaptable aged balsamic vinegar, aceto balsamico di Modena.

It is certain that such taste has value far beyond the purchase price. Long standing Italian history comes into focus when the balsamic vinegars of Villa Bellentani are tasted and found worthy to attain the ranks of the ‘world’s finest’.

Producers around the world have attempted to duplicate the Modena balsamic vinegar, but few pay regard to the tradition and taste that find customers willing to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for well aged blends. It is a shame to see something so precious treated in such a common way by many who will claim a product of comparable quality. In truth, much of what sells as balsamic vinegar is little more than common vinegar mixed with caramelized brown sugar. Yet in Carpi there’s a wooden cask of balsamic vinegar that has aged for more than a decade, and one day some of the precious liquid inside could find its way to your table. Your eyes will close and you take in an appreciative breath, for the taste was worth the wait.

The pace of life in Carpi is a world removed from most urban cultures. Perhaps it is that slower pace that is beneficial when you discover the difference in well aged balsamic vinegar in the grand tradition of Italy. Villa Bellentani a family estate producer seeks to fill that void.

Technorati Tags: Balsamic Vinegar, Italian balsamic vinegar, Modena balsamic vinegar, Villa Bellentani Balsamic