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Logan

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I am a seat of the pants cook just for myself. All I do is very simple stuff and am attempting to continue my search for low sodium ways to flavor what I make. Balsamic is likely in the near future. Thought I'd post what Thomas Keller uses in The French Laundry. He uses Leonardi Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Adamante Italian White Balsamic Vinegar. The Modena stuff in general is often mentioned outside of a specific brand. This one is a bit on the pricey side but no where near the higher end Traditional Modena which would get very pricey for a restaurant or most anyone for that matter. It is the IGP grade of certified Balsamic vinegar of Modena that is the most respected sanely priced balsamic out there from what I read. Also recommended by Gordon Ramsey but in general as I didn't find a specific brand that he recommended.
 
in the end to me Balsamic vinegar to me about concentration...like appeltroop..you can make appelstroop with a few kg of apples per kg or with a tens of kg of apples.
same with Balsamic, in the end it's an aged sugar heavy concentrate of grape juice.

It CAN be amazing, I've tasted some high end Balsamic vinegar that had a hard time flowing from the bottle,, you only need a drop or two on a chunk of Parmiggiano or whatever
 
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Corradobrit1 said:
While not GR recommended (although I'm sure it would be), this is the best Balsamic from Villa Mandori, I have come across thats not insanely priced. I could find it locally for about $40 a bottle.
https://villamanodorifood.com/products/aceto-balsamico-di-modena-i-g-p-artigianale/
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That looks like a good recommendation considering where is comes from and your experience. To be more specific as to what balsamic Thomas Keller uses at The French Laundry it's the 10 year old Leonardi mostly and the 30 year old and 100 year old for finishing. A bit disappointing cost wise as the 10 year old is around $55 and the 100 year old in in the $700 range.
 
I bought this in Tuscany. We were wine tasting and the guy gave me a taste of this. It was like angels singing in my mouth. I bought a bottle, and so did everyone within 25 feet of me. I think my eyes rolling back in ecstasy sold them.

It was $80. I cherish it and use it sparingly.
 

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Balsamic is made in another territory than Tuscany ;-)
Anyone can make 'balsamic' vinegar everywhere, it can only be called 'di modena' if it's made there (Modena) and the price is largely driven by age and fame and fame comes from it's heritage at Modena.

Not to say that balsamic made elsewhere cannot be great, it's just that a high price is IMO not justified when it's not very old AND good. 100ml for 80$ is steep IMO.

https://shop.verrazzano.com/en/farm-products/58-balsamic-vinegar-verrazzano.html
I buy mine from Lavialla, they sell a 'di Modena' of 36 months at 32 euro for 2 x an 0.25L bottle.
Still it's a great souvenir from what i hope was a great trip through a great country!
 
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So, I am not up on Balsamic vinegar. What is a good one to buy in the US that is not crazy expensive?
 
boomchakabowwow said:
I bought this in Tuscany. We were wine tasting and the guy gave me a taste of this. It was like angels singing in my mouth. I bought a bottle, and so did everyone within 25 feet of me. I think my eyes rolling back in ecstasy sold them.

It was $80. I cherish it and use it sparingly.
Click to expand...
Better throw that away its 13 years past its "Best By" date.
 
MarcelNL said:
Balsamic is made in another territory than Tuscany ;-)
Anyone can make 'balsamic' vinegar everywhere, it can only be called 'di modena' if it's made there (Modena) and the price is largely driven by age and fame and fame comes from it's heritage at Modena.

Not to say that balsamic made elsewhere cannot be great, it's just that a high price is IMO not justified when it's not very old AND good. 100ml for 80$ is steep IMO.

https://shop.verrazzano.com/en/farm-products/58-balsamic-vinegar-verrazzano.html
I buy mine from Lavialla, they sell a 'di Modena' of 36 months at 32 euro for 2 x an 0.25L bottle.
Still it's a great souvenir from what i hope was a great trip through a great country!
Click to expand...
To be fair it was produced in Modena (see address of the producer on the label) so meets the criteria for Balsamico di Modena
 
yeah when bottling means it was produced in that place ;)

same discussion with Parma ham, is it Parma ham when the pigs are born in Netherlands using semen from whereever they grow pigs growing the largest buttocks, animals are masted in Belgium, slaughtered in Poland, cured in Parma? (besides the ridiculousness of driving around for at least 1500km)


Clearly says the grapes come from tuscany and it was made there, still if it;s good it's fine.
 
MarcelNL said:
no price and no age? or is it my location?


With the aging the price, and flavor concentration goes up like with Porto etc

Invecchiato means nothing other than 'aged' yet it does not tell you for how long
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It shows as $24.99 for 8.5 oz.
 
MarcelNL said:
yeah when bottling means it was produced in that place ;)

same discussion with Parma ham, is it Parma ham when the pigs are born in Netherlands using semen from whereever they grow pigs growing the largest buttocks, animals are masted in Belgium, slaughtered in Poland, cured in Parma? (besides the ridiculousness of driving around for at least 1500km)


Clearly says the grapes come from tuscany and it was made there, still if it;s good it's fine.
Click to expand...
Though there are some places where this is possible, parma ham is one of those products that has specified where the pigs originate from. Similar situation with parmiggiano.
But admittedly there are plenty of other products where this isn't the case. Emmenthaler can come from lots of places for example, and Serrano doesn't even have to come from Spain. And of course there's still the opportunity for fraud...
 
Logan said:
I am a seat of the pants cook just for myself. All I do is very simple stuff and am attempting to continue my search for low sodium ways to flavor what I make. Balsamic is likely in the near future. Thought I'd post what Thomas Keller uses in The French Laundry. He uses Leonardi Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Adamante Italian White Balsamic Vinegar. The Modena stuff in general is often mentioned outside of a specific brand. This one is a bit on the pricey side but no where near the higher end Traditional Modena which would get very pricey for a restaurant or most anyone for that matter. It is the IGP grade of certified Balsamic vinegar of Modena that is the most respected sanely priced balsamic out there from what I read. Also recommended by Gordon Ramsey but in general as I didn't find a specific brand that he recommended.
Click to expand...
Here is IMO an excellent article on balsamic vinegar. IPG balsamic from Modena in my opinion is a marketing trick. IPG is all over the place in quality. This article discusses this and brings up a quality and designation between IPG and Traditional DOPs called condimento. The Truth About Balsamic Vinegar
 
I also like PX sherry vinegar for some purposes
 
Logan said:
Here is IMO an excellent article on balsamic vinegar. IPG balsamic from Modena in my opinion is a marketing trick. IPG is all over the place in quality. This article discusses this and brings up a quality and designation between IPG and Traditional DOPs called condimento. The Truth About Balsamic Vinegar
Click to expand...
Interesting article. I have a friend who used to work for an Italian food importer, she used to bring me red or silver top bottles and also some condimento. I thought they were all pretty good. Worth noting for op, none of this stuff is used as vinegar in a recipe, they’re more like syrups that you drizzle over certain foods. An all purpose red wine or sherry vinegar is really the backbone of kitchen acids in European cooking.
 
Flavoring food is what I want if for as I am increasingly forced to watch the sodium. I tried a thin Trader Joe's "balsalmic" and it was nothing special to say the least. Acids are said to help replace salt and so far I haven't gotten very good results with it. Someone said that they get their best results using sherry vinegar as an acid to flavor food so I will try that soon.
 
Logan said:
Flavoring food is what I want if for as I am increasingly forced to watch the sodium. I tried a thin Trader Joe's "balsalmic" and it was nothing special to say the least. Acids are said to help replace salt and so far I haven't gotten very good results with it. Someone said that they get their best results using sherry vinegar as an acid to flavor food so I will try that soon.
Click to expand...
to be honest, i don't think the issue is sodium but other things unless you ingest loads of salt. Cutting down processed and ultra processed food should give you plenty of room for some sodium if you do not add it like there is no tomorrow yourself.
 
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