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Article: Balsamic vinegar's regal flavor costs less than a king's ransom
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- December 27, 1990
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Ten years ago, few people had ever heard of balsamic vinegar.
Today we can't seem to cook without it.
This syrupy, sweet-sour condiment has captured our culinary
fancy, turning up in well-dressed salads across the United States and
Europe. Not bad for an ingredient that, until recently, was made by
hand in tiny batches in farmhouse attics and was virtually unknown
outside the Italian province of Emilia-Romagna.
Balsamic vinegar comes from Modena (accent on the first
syllable), a city in north-central Italy that is also the birthplace
of the Ferrari automobile and opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. This
costly condiment has been made since at least 1046 A.D., when one
Bonifacio di Canossa ...