BEETROOT

My parents moved last week, and I grabbed a few things from their kitchen. One of the things I picked up was a bottle of 15 year old vinegar. My mom bought it in little italy for $50, and its a small bottle. I have to say that this is one of the greatest things I've ever tasted. I've been making salads with this and some olive oil for dressing and they are incredible. I've never had anything other than cheapo vinegar before, its a completely different substance. This good stuff flows like maple syrup.

Anyway, anyone else use good vinegar like this? I'm used up almost the whole bottle in the last few days, what kind of places would sell stuff like this? I know I can't get anything close to this at the supermarket.

GIBSON6594

I have used it, its really good stuff and expensive as hell. You only need a small amount though because it is very potent. So that small bottle should last a long time. Definalty worth trying if you are a vinegar fan.

soopa

Assuming you're talking about balsamic vinegar.

You can find the good stuff in some supermarkets if they have a gourmet section, otherwise, go to a local gourmet market. Or, go to an italian specialty store.

I love good vinegar. Even beyond balsamic.

BEETROOT

Yes, sorry.... balsamic vinegar. What else do you use soopa? The only other vinegar I use is rice vinegar in sushi rice.

soopa

Balsamic, Rice, Apple Cider, Champagne, Red Wine, and White Wine vinegars all play a roll in my culinary arsenal.

I even have a bottle of Distilled Vinegar... although I only use it for disinfecting my cutting boards

Also, I use them in about that order of frequency.

My favorite vinegar is probably a good un-filtered Cider Vinegar

wstevens

Aged balsamic vinegar is sublime. You can really spend a good dime on it too, if you get upscale stuff.

There's a small chain of gourmet markets here in the Bay Area that sells a good variety of vinegars. http://www.oakvillegrocery.com/. I don't see it online, but when I was in the shop the other day, they had a bottle of aged Balsamic for $150.

Fig Balsamic roxors if you lke figs.

soopa

<- never had a Fig... unless Fig Newtons count

wstevens

I once made a roasted pumpkin seed / balsamic fig vinegar tapanade that went really well on warmed sourdough bread. That, along with some Manchego cheese and a bottle of wine was a great light meal.

soopa

goddamn, that sounds delicious!

BEETROOT

$150...bet its great. I was just reading about aging vinegar, I guess they switch the casks every couple years while they age it to add to the flavor...oak, cherry, mulberry, etc.

I've never had a fig either. I started eating dates recently, those things are damn good.

and I can't stand sourdough bread for some reason.

wstevens

sourdough is interesting - I don't like it by itself either. However, it's flavour works well when melded with something complimentary. The sweetness of the figs and the nuttiness of the pumpkin seeds worked well the sourness of the bread. The nutty flavour of the pumpkin seeds was amplified slightly more by the accompanying Manchego cheese. All in all, it was a good combo.

BEETROOT

ah you know, that does sound good. The last few times I've had sourdough I had it with soup or as a turkey sandwich. I can see it being good with something sweeter and/or good cheese. The salty soup seemed to make the sourness even stronger.

iTimmy

Must be something in the air up here.

moeronn

I'm guessing we're not talking about the same balsamic vinegar they leave on the table at Maccaroni Grill I can imagine a $150 bottle being good, but not THAT good.

What kind of dates are you eating? Fresh or dried? My parents make an awesome cookie using dried dates. Fresh dates taste okay, but just a couple will give you cotton mouth.

Sourdough rocks, though - beit plain toast, garlic bread, sandwich. I will admit there are something it doesn't necessarily go great with, but overall it gets a

wstevens

When Jamba Juice was just a small start-up company, they used to offer a smoothie called Date Dazzle. It was fucking awesome. It was even better than their Pumpkin Patch smoothie (which was also discontinued ).

I have searched high and low for that date-infused smoothie resicpe, but to no avail. I tried to make it myself with horrid results.

Who would have thunk that dates would make a good smoothy?

BEETROOT

I dunno man, this $50 bottle was amazing. You don't really need much of it, say maybe 1/25th of the bottle for a big grilled chicken salad. $2 each isn't that much. Figure that $150 bottle brings the cost up to $6/plate, and its still reasonable. I'm not going to rush out and spend that much, but I can see it being worth it.

Fresh medjool dates. I eat them plain and cut them up with walnuts and feta in salad.

soopa

I forgot (until I spotted it in the lazy susan tonight)... Sherry Vinegar! This is another essential, I use this even more than Champagne vinegar.

I use this most often in fruit based dressings and Cuban-inspired dishes.

subinf

I'm about 10 days late on this but I use balsamic more than anything else when I cook (vinegar wise). The basic stuff is great in dressings and the more expensive stuff goes really well on strawberries. Its also good to reduce with some stock and drizzle it over some tomatoes on toasted bread.

wndrlst

A client who owns a winery gave me a bottle of nice red wine vinegar a couple of years ago. Being that I am culinarily impaired, it's just been sitting on a shelf. Any suggestions from the more talented?

subinf

^-you can make some good dressing with the red wine vinegar mixed in with olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano. its simple and also works well for marinating lamb.

bug230

Have you tried AJ's Fine Foods? They carry some nice vinegars.