Balsamic Reduction Vs Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic Reduction Vs Balsamic Vinegar

Italian cuisine has contributed many wonderful items to kitchens and pantries all over the world. One such item is balsamic vinegar. Despite its popularity and food hero status it has at time been confused or rather been thought of as being interchangeable with balsamic reduction. There’s even a school of thought that balsamic reduction is just a thicker form of balsamic vinegar. Nothing could be further from the truth and there’s a bit to learn about these two related but ultimately different items. First, we will look at balsamic vinegar and understand its process. Then we can look at how balsamic reduction is made and contrast the two.

Contents

Balsamic Vinegar

Balsamic vinegar is an intensely flavoured vinegar made from grape must. Must is simply crushed grapes that include the stems, seeds and skins of the grapes. Crushing grapes is also the first step in making wine. The must is made from white grapes of the Trebbiano variety and red grapes of the Lambrusco variety. They must be boiled and reduced until the sugar concentration is around 30% and it is then fermented. Traditional Aceto balsamico is made by ageing the reduced grape must in wooden barrels for 12 to 25 years. The process used to age the must is known as solera or Perpetuum. This is a complicated process that mixes a small amount of the contents from newer barrels into older barrels. Other methods will use multiple barrels of different sizes with contents of each smaller barrel being added to the next one up in size. It is also known as fractional blending and smooths the flavour across the various barrels of the product giving it a unique flavour blend. The name balsamic is derived from the similarity the vinegar has balsam and does not contain any balsam in it. Balsamic vinegar is very popular in salads, tomato-based dishes, meat dishes and as a condiment in its own right.

 

Balsamic Reduction

Balsamic reduction is what you get when you simmer balsamic vinegar in a saucepan for 15 to 20 minutes. Balsamic reduction also includes the addition of aromatic elements such as garlic and herbs. There’s a little confusion between balsamic reduction and balsamic glaze. Generally, the difference is the addition of honey, sugar or a sweetening agent in the reduction process. It is not clear where or when this treatment of balsamic vinegar popped up or became popular but it is a well-known one today. The balsamic reduction has similar use cases to balsamic vinegar. It works well as a salad dressing and is preferred for its concentrated flavour. It is also popularly used as a marinade or in meat dishes. So the two come from the same thing so to speak but what are the differences between balsamic vinegar and balsamic reduction.

 

Process

Well, it’s only fitting to start with the processes that beget the two. Balsamic vinegar is aged between 12 and 25 years through fractional blending while balsamic reduction is made by further processing balsamic vinegar for 15 to 20 minutes. In the process of reducing balsamic vinegar, it is customary to add garlic for flavour.

 

Flavour

Speaking of the added herbs we should also touch on the flavour of balsamic vinegar compared to that of balsamic reduction. Balsamic vinegar has a notably sharp flavour that is mostly described as tart. There is an underlying sweetness to balsamic vinegar that becomes more pronounced when it is cooked into dishes. The sweetness comes from the sweetness of the Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes. Another flavour note you will catch in balsamic vinegar is a wine like fruity flavour. Balsamic reduction has a lot of the same base flavours as balsamic vinegar. However, in the reduction process, these flavours become concentrated so you will get a stronger hit of each of the flavours. The addition of garlic to the mix brings a punch that matches the tang. It balances with the concentrated flavours. So there is a difference in the flavour as balsamic vinegar is tangy and wine-like while balsamic reduction will have the same flavours concentrated with the added aromatic punch of garlic and herbs.

 

Texture

The texture, or to be more appropriate the viscosity of balsamic vinegar and balsamic reduction is another attribute we can compare between the two. Balsamic vinegar has a viscosity similar to that of wine. It is thin and very fluid. When making balsamic reduction the task is to reduce the amount of water in it and come out with a thicker liquid. Balsamic reduction is thicker than balsamic vinegar and has the consistency of a runny sauce. This is why balsamic reduction is also favoured in plate decoration as well as being a top condiment. Balsamic vinegar is thin and water like in texture while balsamic vinegar is thicker with a texture like a runny sauce.

 

Uses

For the most part balsamic vinegar and balsamic reduction have similar uses. Both are used as salad dressing and have a strong appreciation all over the world. Balsamic reduction is used more sparingly in this application because of the aforementioned concentration of flavours. Both balsamic vinegar and reduction are also widely used in meat dishes, either as a marinade or to boost flavour in a dish. The shared tangy flavour between these two also makes it very popular in tomato-based dishes which Italian cooking has many of. The difference comes in the use of balsamic reduction for decorative purposes. Its thickness or viscosity allows it to stick to plates and this makes it great for decorating. This is not possible with balsamic vinegar because of its viscosity.

 

The differences between balsamic vinegar and balsamic reduction are not abundant. Balsamic reduction is made from balsamic vinegar so it carries the same flavours although they are more concentrated. Balsamic reduction has the added flavour of garlic and other aromatic herbs on top of the tangy wine-like flavour of balsamic vinegar. Balsamic reduction being thicker is used in decorating plates in addition to the salads, meat and tomato-based dishes that balsamic vinegar is used in.

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