A Whiter Shade of Balsamic
Giusti white condiment
In the first century, Apicius has been attributed to say that “we eat with our eyes”. In the case of balsamic vinegar, this has been true for thousands of years, but white balsamic is beginning to change all that. To be clear, white balsamic is not balsamic vinegar. While the two vinegars do share a surname, the dark, rich viscous stuff that’s religiously splashed on Caprese salads, adorns hunks of Parmigiano Reggiano, or it’s more industrial iteration that’s sprayed or squeezed from supermarket-bound bottles is far more popular than its clear cousin. Though white balsamic is devoid of color, it’s not lacking depth — sharing some of the classy characteristics (e.g. the juice of white Trebbiano grapes from Modena, Italy) of all-powerful, omnipresent balsamico.
This white style of balsamic vinegar is often viewed as a bastardization of the real thing because there’s no consortium rule that truly defines what white balsamic is. The grape must (juice) must get cooked quickly, so as not to caramelize, nor get syrupy. Aged far less than balsamico, white balsamic also doesn’t have the deep tradition associated with Modena’s “black gold”, but has been gaining a following in more modern applications.
Chef Michele Casadei Massari credit Azzurra Primavera
Michele Casadei Massari, a Bologna-born chef, whose New York City restaurant Lucciola serves dishes inspired by Italy’s Emilia Romagna region. Massari calls white balsamic buonina, “an adjective in Bologna — when you add it — it makes everything good,” or as Massari calls it, “an uber ingredient”. He prefers Giusti’s brand, the oldest balsamic vinegar maker in the world, believing it to deliver the perfect combination of sweet, sour, and umami. This led Massari to use it in an ingenious “instant-ketchup” recipe — mixing condimento bianco (white condiment, as they call it in Emilia Romagna) with passata (strained raw tomatoes), aromatics and spices. Massari also dresses oysters with white balsamic. “The notes of sweet, yellow fruits and dried citrus pair well with fish,” he says He also utilizes it for risotto’s final touch, deglazing the pan with white balsamic rather than wine. His opinion is that white balsamic adds more body and balance without having to cook out the wine first.
Not that white balsamic is a replacement for white wine, though Massari loves to tell a story about his grandfather who, “used to make acetella, a dilution of white condiment in water, which he drank instead of wine,” says Massari, a mocktail, which was his way of gently drinking a digestive.
Other US chefs are also embracing the merit of white balsamic, like pizza czar Anthony Falco, of Roberta’s fame, who finishes off margherita pies with a drizzle of Sparrow Lane’s California Golden Balsamic, while Mike Friedman, chef/owner of Red Hen and All-Purpose Pizza in Washington, DC, likes the brighter bracing acidity white balsamic provides in rich dishes like a foie gras and chicken liver mousse, mixing it into a fig conserva to complement and lighten the dish as a whole. Friedman also uses O White Balsamic Vinegar as a sweet component in a mustard dressing for winter chicory salads with hazelnut.
Nami Nori mushroom soup
Outside of the Italian canon. Taka Sakaeda, chef/partner at NYC’s Nami Nori temaki (handroll) restaurants combines Tondo white balsamic with a green chive oil to make an electric vinaigrette for his Matsutake Cream of Mushroom Soup (recipe follows). “We wanted to use the white rather than the classic balsamic as not to interfere with the color,” Sakaeda says, who adds, “the gentle acidity really helps to lighten up the cream of the soup as opposed to the aroma of [the expected] rice vinegar which masks the mushrooms.”
Carandini Club
Whereas white balsamic vinegar finds itself folded into many recipes, it also has its place in the cocktail glass. Centuries-old Modenese vinegar maker Caradini’s Bianca Sweet White Vinegar prompted a drinks collaboration with Julie Reiner of Brooklyn’s Clover Club and Manhattan’s Milady’s. Reiner came up with the Acetico di Modena, a negroni-esque/Boulevardier-based drink that highlights darker spirits with the sweet and sour side of white balsamic. For something lighter, Reiner created the Emilio Spritz —with a backbone of white balsamic’s depth and body, that extracts the freshness of muddled strawberries and harnesses the power of biting ginger syrup. The Carandini Club, a non-alcoholic option, using white balsamic to bolster a sweet-and-sour raspberry syrup and lemon juice, for a bitter, sweet and tart aperitif.
Just because white balsamic is achromatic, doesn’t mean it has to be unimaginative.
RECIPES
“Instant Ketchup”
By Chef Michele Casadei Massari, Lucciola, NYC
1 cup Pomi strained tomatoes
3 tbsp Giusti Condimento Bianco (Giusti White Condiment)
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of ground clove
In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer on medium-low for 15-20 minutes, until thickened.
Adjust flavors to taste, let cool, then store in a refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe
By Taka Sakaeda, Nami Nori, NYC
chive oil vinaigrette
30 grams, chives
100 grams, neutral oil
100 grams, white balsamic vinegar
In a food processor add chopped up chives and oil. Blend on high until completely combined, at least 30 seconds.
Pass contents through a very fine mesh strainer, or cheese cloth. Combine in equal parts oil and vinegar.
soup base
1 medium onion - (spanish, white)
2 button mushrooms
5 cloves of garlic
2T neutral cooking oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
Water
Salt
Slice onions, button mushrooms, and garlic cloves thinly.
In a saute pan heat oil (enough to coat the pan) on high heat. Add all ingredients and saute them. We are looking to caramelize all the onions, mushrooms and garlic.
Depending on how much water your onions and mushrooms have, this may take some time. We want to fully cook out the water so browning can occur.
Once all the water is cooked out, cook on med-high heat. If the ingredients start sticking to the pan, use a little water to deglaze the pan. Once all ingredients are golden brown, take off the heat and set aside.
Make a mixture of milk and cream in equal parts and set aside.
Put the mushroom mix into a food processor, and add some clean water to get them to blend (just enough water to get the contents to blend).
Once blended, add the milk/cream mixture until you get the desired thickness.
We are looking for a velvety smooth soup. Season with salt.
Heat up the soup, plate and finish with the chive oil vinaigrette. Make sure to shake the vinaigrette before using.
COCKTAILS
By Julie Reiner, Clover Club, Milady’s, NYC
Carandini Club
1.25 oz Wilfred’s Aperitif (non-alcoholic)
.5 oz Raspberry syrup
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
.5 oz Carandini Bianca Sweet White Vinegar
.25 oz Egg white
Shake without ice to emulsify the egg white.
Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass
Top with 1.5 oz Sovi Sparkling Rose (non-alcoholic sparkling wine)
Garnish: lemon twist
Emilio Spritz
Muddle 3 strawberries
.5 oz ginger syrup
.5 oz Carandini Emilio Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
.5 oz lemon juice
.5 oz Lyre’s Italian Spritz
1 oz Seedlip Grove
Shake and fine strain into a collins glass over crushed ice
2 oz club soda
Garnish: ginger candy, strawberry
Acetivo di Modena
1.5 oz Bourbon (Elijah Craig)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
.5 oz Carandini Emilio Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
.25 Lustau East India Sherry
.25 oz apricot liqueur (Blume Marillen)
1 oz water
Serve on a big rock
Orange twist