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On pulling rabbits out of hats – adventures with balsamic vinegar

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Twenty years ago people were lucky to find balsamic vinegar on the grocery shelf.  Now trendy tasting bars offer dozens of different balsamics.  Customers can taste samples in small cups or on squares of French bread, then choose the size bottle they want.  Even supermarkets now offer an assortment of grades and prices.  Photo by Elizabeth Trail
Twenty years ago people were lucky to find balsamic vinegar on the grocery shelf. Now trendy tasting bars offer dozens of different balsamics. Customers can taste samples in small cups or on squares of French bread, then choose the size bottle they want. Even supermarkets now offer an assortment of grades and prices. Photo by Elizabeth Trail

copyright the Chronicle July 29, 2015

by Elizabeth Trail

“Try this, you won’t believe it,” said my mother, pushing a small bowl of thinly sliced strawberries toward me. She had the look on her face of someone about to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

I plop food on a plate; my mother creates edible art. I eyed the berries skeptically. These were in a footed glass bowl, garnished with a sprig of mint. The fruit looked dark and glossy, but the lighter inner parts were slightly orange, and there was undeniably a brown liquid in the bottom of the bowl. Not a color I usually associate with summer fruit salad, however elegantly presented.

Mom couldn’t hold the secret for long.”

“It’s balsamic vinegar,” she said triumphantly. “It makes the strawberries taste incredible.

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