Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is known since year 1000 yet. It was originated by noble families and was the housewife who used to attend the acetaia, a special vinegar cellar to stock it in. When the daughters got married, their dowries were enriched by a “battery” of barrels for the vinegar aging. It is appreciated by the choosiest palates and sought by experts and legend has it that a Russian tsar, finding it aphrodisiac, used to send an envoy by horse till Modena in order to supply with it.Matilda of Canossa, great fancier of the product, used to gift balsamic vinegar to the prominent personalities of her time, giving birth to a primal advertising campaign. Francesco IV duke of Modena, kept in the attics of his palace (the current headquarter of the military academy) one of the most renowned acetaia of Modena. The success between the governors goes on till our days, since traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is appreciated on many kingly tables.The traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena D.O.P. (Protected Designation of Origin) is different from the industrial vinegars for the raw materials, for the method and for the aging; furthermore, in order to differentiate it while buying, is necessary to remember that the industrial product reports the simple wording “balsamic vinegar of Modena”, while the natural one has in addition the adjective “traditional”.
How is traditional balsamic vinegar produced?
The first and most important phase is the cooking of the must, obtained from grapes carefully selected among the most proper and typical vine cultivations of the area (trebbiano and lambrusco).In the past copper cauldrons were used for the cooking, while nowadays these have been replaced by steel basins with controlled and constant heat. The cooking takes place at a heat of 75-80° C and goes on for 24-36 hours; in this period the must has to reach an averaging concentration of around 50%.During the cooking, the must, which is very sugary and gluey, is constantly kept in movement and rid of impurities that rise to the surface; is necessary to avoid in any way that it adheres or burns, because the taste of the raw material would be damaged from the beginning. Once ready, the cooked must rests for a year in a vessel (possibly made of glass) before being poured in the first barrel; which is the biggest of the battery and the only, where the cooked must is put in.Along the centuries the tradition is not changed: the batteries are still composed by 7-8 barrels of decreasing size and made of different woods (cherry, durmat oak, mulberry, chestnut, juniper, acacia and others according to the choose of the producer). If possible, the batteries are bequeathed from generation to generation since, in order to obtain quickly a good product, the barrels must be old and yet impregnated with vinegar; in the inauspicious case of a new battery, in the first 8 or 10 years nothing can be extracted: this is the reason why they have always been considered family treasures. The capacity of the barrels varies from producer to producer, but, in general, we can say that the biggest one can contain approximately 60 kg of must, while the smallest one contains about 5 kg of aged vinegar.The racking and the topping up are made during winter time, when the product is decanting: the summer heat makes the vinegar work and the level of the barrels decreases. The summer temperature influences a lot the annual yield and the concentration. Therefore, at the proper moment for the processing in the acetaia, is possible to spill aged vinegar from the smallest barrel in quantity not surpassing the half of its content; from the immediately bigger barrel the product is taken in sufficient quantity to top up the smallest one and so on: the topping up proceeds from barrel to barrel, till the biggest, which is topped up with the cooked must.Since the process of topping up decreases from time to time the previous vintage, it’s difficult to talk about time of aging without approximation; this is the reason why the regulation of the protection consortium avoids citing a precise vintage.
Which combinations?
The traditional balsamic vinegar has different organoleptic and tasty characteristics according to the time of aging.The youngest ones, which are bitterer, are particular suitable for cooking and salads.Francesco IV invented a renowned sauce (the ducal sauce) made of balsamic vinegar to be combined with zampone; bring 30 g of very aged grated Parmigiano Reggiano and the same quantity of quite young vinegar, melt them together on bain-marie for 5 minutes. The sauce has the same aspect of melted chocolate and has to be used immediately for the slices of smoking zampone.The elixir extra old (at least 20 years), creamy and intense, is excellent sipped with a teaspoon – it’s enough one, each table companion – in the middle of the meal, instead of a sorbet, just like a digestive; besides, a drop wonderfully combines with a flake of very old Parmesan or, as a dessert, it could be spilled on a good cream ice.
