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Anybody know what it is? I'm guessing it's just boiled down balsamic vinegar, but I don't know for sure.

When we were down at Disney, my wife had some grilled salmon with sundried tomato pesto on it. When we told the waiter how awesome it was, he brought us the recipe. Balsamic reduction is one of the ingredients in the pesto (along with capers....man, I love capers. )

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My best guess is that it is vinegar, but processed somehow (filtered?) giving a residu.

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Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_Balsamic_reduction

Seems you are about right JM

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People lover city builder future liver bigger dreamer louder rocker greater giver looking at the bigger picture.

you have to start off with a mighty fine balsamic vinegar you cannot use cheep stuff it wont work . After you have cooked your salmon or other meat you wanted the reduction for add 1/4 cup of the balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan scrapping up all the residue from the bottom of the pan keep on the heat till it thickens. PS remember this is vinegar so you may want to open a window or two.

Recipe no 2. (this keeps for ages in a bottle) can be used in salads as a dressing or over fish , chicken , duck at the last min also great for being arty farty and decorating plates

Balsamic reduction

I litre of good balsamic vinegar
1/2 litre of water
700grm sugar
1 inch of root ginger

Peal and slice ginger . Pour in water and vinegar add sugar and heat slowly till the sugar is dissolved ,DONOT boil until you are sure the sugar has dissolved because it will end burning and taint the syrup , turn up the heat and put to a slow rolling boil stirring every now and again until it has thickened and coats the back of a spoon ,if you want it thicker turn down the heat and stir till the required thickness (do not walk away from the pan when you do this because it could go wrong in a second )
pour into bottles and enjoy keeps for months in a cool place

reduction purdy much means it sits in a hot pot for a while

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"Let there be bass." - Leo Fender

Thanks all. Man, I love this place.

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This begs the question about where the line is between good and bad. I'm pretty sure I've been using subpar stuff, but am curious if there's some particular dividing line between good and bad - how many years it's aged? What kind of wood it aged in? Other?

My local supermarket installed a little locked box in the vinegar department with a handfull of fine looking balsamics. That box was only there for a couple of months before the management figured out that my neighbors simply weren't going to pay $125 for a small bottle of vinegar.

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I don't know about anyone else but Balsamic Reduction sounds like some sort of procedure I don't necessarily want done on myself.

I was thinking the same thing.

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THE MUSIC IS DOWN IN HERE
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Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

like wine, balsamic vinegar can be cheap and nasty to the best thing you have every tasted . When buying Balsamic i would go for Aceto balsamico di Modena only vinegar produce in in the regions of Modena or Reggio in Italy can have this label ( some cheaper varieties will say they contain the vinegar but they will be mixed with caramel ,water and other nasties. The vinegars are put in wooden barrel and are changed into a different barrel every year , the wood they use are oak, cherry , chestnut, mulberry etc . they are put into the barrel to mature 3-5 years (very young) 6-12 years (middle aged ) 12-150 years this is so special you would only use a drop or two( it would also cost a fortune .I would if i was going to make a balsamic reduction use the second one , but if i was going to make a syrup with the ginger and sugar i would use the first one

Thanks for the info chef, and for being my own personal tutor.

Seems the stuff I've been using falls into the first category (aged 4 years - no surprise), but is indeed from the Modena region. Ingredients: red wine vinegar and grape musts.

Perhaps I need to head on down to Zingermann's deli and do some shopping so I can treat my wife right when I make her some salmon?

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When buying Italian ingredients it is best to find an establishment with a name that ends in a vowel.

Probably true Gary, but I think Zingerman's has me covered:

http://www.zingermans.com/Category.aspx?Category=balsamic_vinegar

Maybe I should put that $700 bottle on my Christmas list?

Also, found a bit more background info at their site to add to what the Chef so generously provided:

http://www.zingermans.com/Article.aspx?ArticleNum=25

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My Nona disagrees.

Nona knows best.

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