With Autumn Sprouts Some New Delicious Food

Autumn is setting in and some amazing food is blossoming with the new season. It’s time for delicious soups, squash, and pumpkin. So many delicious vegetables prompt an endless list of recipes in my mind. One of the great flavors I enjoy using this time of year is Pumpkin Seed Oil.

Pumpkin seed oil is a staple in Austrian cooking, but it is just now making favor with chefs and foodies worldwide. At Oil & Vinegar we carry pumpkin seed oil from Styria, Austria which is considered the highest quality and is DOP protected.

Pumpkin seed oil has this wonderful, nutty flavor that blends so well with squash, pumpkin, potatoes, and other autumn vegetables, and an intense green color that comes from the husks of the seeds. Pumpkin seed, like many other oils, is cold pressed, and because of its delicate nature, it is used cold or as a finishing oil, so it won’t lose flavor or nutritional value. Pumpkin seed oil has valuable health benefits and is full of vitamins and minerals, but it is the culinary adventure you will experience that is truly a delight.

Pumpkin seed oil makes a simple dressing for a salad when mixes with muscat wine vinegar and a bit of fresh ground pepper. It is also amazing as a finishing oil in squash or pumpkin soup. You can even toss steamed vegetables in a bit of the oil. Though I haven’t tried it myself, I have even seen recipes for vanilla ice cream with pumpkin seed oil!

The World of Balsamic Vinegar (Part Two)

Well, now that it is clear to us what actually is recognized as balsamic vinegar, here are a few more questions that Claudio clarified for us:

D: Sometimes we see Balsamic Condiment on a label; what is the difference between a Balsamic Vinegar and a Balsamic Condiment?

C: Actually, there is no such thing as a Balsamic Condiment. Remember, the only recognized Balsamics are those we discussed before. Using the name ‘condiment’ is for marketing purposes because the producers are not allowed to label it as vinegar unless they follow the rules we talked about. Often the acidity level is lower than the required 6% for a balsamic.

D: How can a consumer know if they are buying a quality aged Balsamic Vinegar?

C: No one can tell you how aged a Balsamic Vinegar is. In fact it is prohibit by law. If it is from the consortium you will know it is high quality, if it is not, the consortium has created a classification with ‘leaves’ for other balsamics. It is rated from 1 to 4 leaves (4 is the maximum). So the more leaves the higher the quality; you can assume the higher the number of leaves the more aged, but no one can indicate it.

D: We see ‘white’ balsamic in the market, yet have heard that there is no such thing. What is it?

C: White balsamic is an unaccepted denomination that is supposed to be less and less on the market since the IGP will make more controls. Technically it is a condiment which is white as the must is “decolorated”, filtered. There is no connection to the fact that white grapes are used, in fact white grapes are the grapes for normal Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, they become black because the must is cooked and therefore becomes black. It is possible that a “white condiment” tastes like balsamic, but it is not recognized as balsamic and there are no rules to the making of or ingredients of the “white condiment”.

So there you have it. As you can see, balsamic vinegar is such an interesting subject and we could probably talk about it for weeks!

There are a few things I would like to add from my own experience with balsamic vinegar. First of all, because there is such a wide variety of qualities and flavors out there, the most important thing is that you enjoy the taste.

Remember that traditional balsamic vinegar is extremely expensive and used for special occasions, or for special uses, such as an aperitif, drizzled on fruit or on ice cream. There are no rules, but I wouldn’t recommend a traditional extra vecchio balsamic for salads!

Keep in mind that balsamic vinegar is made from grape must, so read the label. You can find anything from pure grape must, to white wine vinegar with caramel additives and just a small quantity of grape must. Be wary of super inexpensive “aged” balsamics, as we learned, there is no such thing, and you get what you pay for!

The World of Balsamic Vinegar

Later this year we are introducing a beautiful collection of vinegars in an exclusive box from the Giusti Family; the oldest producer of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. Lo Scrigno, as the box is called, was produced for a charity auction at the special request of Luciano Pavarotti. The sale of Lo Scrigno was a huge success at the auction and Oil & Vinegar is fortunate to have, later this year, a limited edition, numbered replica of the original. I’ll tell you more about Lo Scrigno another time, but I wanted to let you in on a conversation I had with Claudio Stefani Giusti, 17th generation Giusti about the art of Balsamic Vinegar.

At Oil & Vinegar we have the good fortune of meeting the best producers of oils, vinegars and artisan food products from around the world and our franchisees and their staff reap the benefits by sharing their knowledge and passing it along to the guests in our stores.

There are a lot of Balsamic Vinegars out there, with a vast range of quality and a wide variety of prices which can be confusing to say the least and we receive a lot of questions on a regular basis.

My conversation with Claudio should help clear things up and introduce you to the complex and intriguing world of Balsamic Vinegar. I will publish the introduction of our conversation this week and will continue publishing our interview next week.

The first question most people ask is what makes a balsamic a balsamic, so that is where I started my conversation with Claudio.

D: What makes a Balsamic a Balsamic?

C: There are three registered products that are recognized as Balsamic Vinegar.
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena which also recently received IGP certification. (Indication of Protected Origin)

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena which is DOP, tasted by a panel of Consortium members and bottled only by the Consortium. (Denomination of Protected Origin)
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia which is DOP (Denomination of Protected Origin)

All three recognized Balsamic Vinegars must be made from Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes and must have 6% acidity.

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is always bottled in the same 100ml bottle (designed by Giugiaro in 1897), by the Consortium of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, regardless of the producer. Only the label will change according to who the producer is.

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia is also bottled in the same 100ml bottle regardless of the producer by the Consortium of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia, but not the same bottle design as the Modena bottle.

Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (not labelled traditional) must be bottles in 250ml or 500 or 750 or 1 litre or superior. The choice of the bottle is free.

Balsamic Vinegars that are labelled Traditional, whether from Modena or Reggio Emilia are VERY expensive products, (more than 100 euros per 100ml bottle), and are also extremely protected with a DOP. The rules imposed by the DOP are quite severe and having your balsamic judged and bottled by the Consortium is very costly.

Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (not labelled traditional) can be very cheap, or very good. In fact the rules are much less severe, as they only require that the balsamic ages at least 60 days in wood, which is hardly anything and therefore the product can be very cheap. This is why you find in supermarkets large bottles of Balsamic Vinegars of Modena for a very low price.

Balsamic Vinegar of Modena can also be very good; in fact, there is a broad range of quality Balsamic before arriving at the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. A producer can still do a great Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and bottle in their own 250ml bottle. In the case of our Giusti Balsamics, for example, our same bottle has been on the market for more than 100 years, so we were not interested in doing only the Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena in the 100ml Giugiaro bottle, because our 250ml Giusti bottle is recognized as it is.

To be continued next week...

Oil & Vinegar Surprise Gift Bags

The big question from our guests this summer is when are you doing the bags again?! Well, for those of you that are not familiar, twice a year Oil & Vinegar has fun with surprise bags and they’re starting next week! Created after a Japanese shopping tradition, ‘fukibukuro’ or ‘lucky bags’ are the highlight of every sale event. The bags are full of interesting items at incredible prices.

The surprise bags at Oil & Vinegar are filled with five items from the store. Usually it is a combination of three food items and two non-food items and it can be anything from oils, vinegars, dried herbs, sauces, dip dishes, kitchen gadgets, and more. You have to be adventurous, but it is a great way to try new products, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll find one of the four gift cards that are hidden in the bags in every store.

The bags are double the value, so a $20 bag has $40 worth of products in it, and so on. They are packed randomly, so not even the staff in the shops knows what is in each bag or where the gift cards might be. It is so fun to see the excitement about this promotion. Besides our guests who have experienced it before, asking “when are the surprise bags coming?”, when the promotion starts, some guests will buy one for themselves and one for a friend, or co-worker just to brighten their day. Everyone has their own technique in finding the perfect bag; it might be closing your eyes and picking, wandering around lifting them and picking by weight, or just grabbing the first one you see! Anyway, it is fun and exciting and our most popular promotion ever!

Spicing Up The Summer BBQ

With summer in full swing, whether you like the slow cooking of a low temperature barbeque or the quick, high temperature of grilling, we have expanded our product lines for both with great rubs, salt blends and flavorful sauces. We love to keep the grilling experience easy to enjoy, with delicious, high quality products and easy recipe suggestions. Why not enjoy your family and friends as much as you are enjoying the food!

One of my favorite suggestions is this easy to do grilled shrimp recipe with Allioli. Place shrimp in a Ziploc bag with a tablespoon of Allioli, a drop of garlic grapeseed oil and a spoonful of BBQ rub or Chili Fiesta rub, shake and grill. Our Allioli is from Catalonia, Spain. It is a traditional Spanish allioli of garlic, olive oil, and salt. There is no egg added like in French Aioli.

If you’re sticking to the old standards of burgers and hot dogs, jazz up your condiments with a selection of relishes or a balsamic onion topping from South Africa or a choice of mustards from The Netherlands. I love the jalapeno relish because it doubles nicely as a salsa with tortilla chips.