[Intro music]
This easy to make sauce will add a fancy finishing touch
to appetizers, such as salmon tartare, crab cakes
or tomato salad among others.
The vinegar is reduced to a glaze and will stay fresh
in the refrigerator indefinitely.
Not all the balsamic vinegars were created equal.
You will find the fake ones, which represent over 90%
of the world-wide production, and there is the real one.
The real one comes from Modena in Italy.
When it is time to make the balsamic vinegar reduction,
do not use the expensive one, the real one,
as it will be a shame to boil it.
Use an inexpensive vinegar without too many additives and
caramel in there, so read carefully the ingredient list
and use it.
This real balsamic vinegar is ten years old.
This one is 25 years old.
And this one, only the name on the bottle says it's a
balsamic vinegar, but we all know that it's not.
I'm going to show you the differences between the two of them.
And you will understand why people or chefs boil the inexpensive
vinegar to make it look like the real one.
So you see the consistency. It's pretty liquidy.
And here, if I'm using the real one, it's already thick.
And you will see it. Look how thick it is.
So you see the inexpensive vinegar is running everywhere.
And the real balsamic vinegar that hasn't boiled,
that is just pure, almost doesn't run.
So you understand now why we are boiling the vinegar.
Pour the vinegar in a sauce pan.
On high heat, bring the vinegar to a boil.
The vinegar is boiling, reduce the heat to medium high
and let it simmer for about 10 minutes
or until it reduces to a quarter cup.
Almost there.
Keep an eye on your reduction because when the vinegar
starts to get thicker it could burn very easily.
So here the vinegar has reduced to about a quarter cup. You see.
So I'm going to let it cool for about five minutes
and then we will transfer it into a squeeze bottle.
Leave the saucepan declined while the vinegar is cooling down.
It will be easier to transfer to the squeeze bottle.
The reduction has cooled down. It's still hot though.
Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
When it will be totally cold, I will show you the consistency
and how to use it.
The balsamic vinegar reduction had totally cooled down
and the new acquired consistency, like a caramel, will allow
you to make a great designs to decorate your plates.
Let me show you.
So you can see that when it comes it's pretty thick.
You can make very thin lines or you can do a circle if you want,
like a snail.
And it doesn't run.