Day 276 - Balsamic Vinegar of Modena

We call this “fancy ass balsamic vinegar”.  Basically cuz the jar looks fancy.

Arty farty shot of fancy ass vinegar.

David says, “It is soooo nice….  “  But when prompted for more details, such as WHAT MAKES IT NICE, he says, “It is balsaaamic.  And it is VINEGAR.”

Yeah – it is that sort of discerning palate and descriptive wording that makes a solid review…

In discussing what exactly MAKES vinegar balsamic vinegar, David supposed that it is fermented and that makes it taste richer and a little bit sweet.  Not one to take his word for it, I Googled it.  

click here to learn what in the world balsamic vinegar really is

And after reading that article I think HOLY SMOKES – I now understand why balsamic vinegar is so expensive!  It takes 12 years to make it, people!  And the barrels it is aged in disintegrate and have to be repeatedly reinforced!!  That’s it – I need to go to Italy and see balsamic vinegar being made.

(Note – after reading this article I checked to see where this TJ’s Balsamic comes from, as the article said TRUE balsamic only comes from two places.  Guess what?  This ain’t some cheap NYC street corner knock-off, it comes from Modena, one of the REAL spots.  Bam.)

Says right on the label and the signage - OF MODENA folks.  Fancy.

As for this particular balsamic, I really like the bottle, it is a cool shape.  The lid tricks me every time – I think it is going to be a CORK when I pull it off, but it is a plastic insert.  It makes a good seal when you put it on.  The bottle is also the right size.  Have you ever had a bottle of balsamic that is too big and it is in your fridge forever??  Or too small and it tips over?  This one is a good size and well shaped.  Or, as David says, “It has a nice flat bottom.”  (You can sense it coming, can’t you??)  “I like my balsamic like I like my women, with a nice, flat bottom.” (Groan.)

This balsamic was a tiny bit more expensive than SOME balsamic you see, but not the cheapest.  It was, in the grand scheme of things, middle of the road priced balsamic (but a cheap road, like St. Charles Place, not like Park Place).  I mean, you can pay a LOT of money for some faaaancy balsamic (if you are into that).  But are the super duper expensive ones any better???  I am sure if you are a chi-chi fancy rich person you might be able to taste the difference.  For us, this one will do just fine thank you very much.

This is the St. Charles Place of balsamic

We mostly use balsamic vinegar for salads.  I guess we should get more creative and cook with it, too.  We use very little of it.  If you want to read Trader Joe’s official description of this product, check out their archived article here .

Salad with balsamic - see it is tasty 

Different salad with balsamic

Price – $3.99 (which, if their article above is accurate, has been the same low price for over 8 years!)

Rating – 4.75