The Red and The White

So, this weekend, I totally party-crashed on an extended neighbor's 40th birthday party. Like totally party crashed. We all just "happened to be walking down the street" when we saw people we knew going into a house for a barbeque. I sent Baby Balsamic in first to test the waters (now, who can ask the incredible cuteness that is Baby Balsamic to leave a party?), then we followed and had soon settled ourselves, stolen drink in hand, around the buffet. Luckily, they're great people and even tolerated me hovering around the preparation of the Caprese salad.

"Do you have Balsamic vinegar?" I asked, because if I'm going to deign to eat from a buffet where I've crashed, the Caprese salad had darn well better be dressed with Balsamic vinegar. Luckily, they were civilized and not only did they have regular Balsamic vinegar, the host offered me white Balsamic vinegar, which I have never consciously tasted. Now, that doesn't mean that I have gone on fermented condiment binges and ended up being photographed imbibing all kinds of mysterious pickled things, and was later blackmailed. Just don't Google "CondimentGrrl, Celery Salt, Tequila, and Mario." You don't want to know the details.

I have tried white Balsamic Vinegar in the past, but only when I was out of the regular kind and desparately seeking something to dress my salad. But this weekend, I had a kind host who tolerated me taking a spoonful of white balsamic, cleansing my palate with wine, then a spoonful of red Balsamic. The white balsamic tasted like a cross between regular Balsamic and Red Wine vinegar. Definately lighter and less sweet, although I couldn't help but wonder if I was missing out on those antitoxicants that are in wine and deep red substances and prevent cancer and stretch marks and general bad things. I researched the ingredients in White Balsamic and found that it's made from white wine vinegar and grape must versus red wine vinegar and grape must.

Of course, I have a feeling that the traditional Italian Balsamic makers who spend years transferring the Balsamic from wood to wood, barrel to smaller barrel, would spit on the White variety. However, the website I found also suggests that it's better for salad dressing because it doesn't overwhelm the other ingredients. Pish Tosh, I say to this. Tell that to someone who doesn't add Anchovy paste to her everyday salad dressing. But that's another blog post.

This makes me think of white chocolate versus dark chocolate. I'm a deep, dark chocolate kind of girl and I require chocolate that's about 95% cocoa. It's like a very, very, very dry martini: just hold the bottle of vermouth next to the glass with the gin. Just hold the sugar cannister next to the pot of simmering cocoa beans, then throw it away. I like white chocolate, but it's like the whole powerhouse experience of the deep cocoa hitting my taste buds is lacking. It's a lighter experience, and I guess sometimes that's a good thing.

But not according to Mario.

CondimentGrrl

This Week in Condiments

Raspberry Honey Mustard as a dipping sauce for pretzels?

I guess it could happen. Many things could happen. I heard about this combination from a friend who runs a wonderful local blog for parents: Tacoma Kids. And it's another one for the "Wow, I never thought of THAT combination, but now that you say it, it sounds amazing!" And yes, that's the technical name. There's a newish store that sells fresh meat and produce nearby and they also have a big condiment rack in the middle of the store. Periodically, they put out samples of their condiments for hungry shoppers (usually harried moms who've just picked up their kids from school).

I have to stop and comment here that I find it amusing that a small store would still find enough market value to devote a good portion of their floor space to condiments. It speaks to the strength, the power, the indescribable allure of condiments.

Asian Italian Fusion Dipping Sauce

Last night, Baby Balsamic and I took Big Daddy Condiment to a local Italian restaurant. While they put out lovely little bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar(!), they didn't ever see fit to put bread on our table. Not that I could have any (trying to be gluten-free, you know, which plays havoc with trying dipping sauces. Sigh). But I did enjoy adding a balsamic element to my caesar salad. Deep-fried green beans were the appetizer of choice and they came with an interesting dipping sauce: a hot, sweet sauce that I'm used to experiencing with spring rolls. They were tasty, but the breading was a bit too thick and drowned the taste of the green beans.

However, I got to watch my father use the rest of the mixture to dip his steak into, even though it came with a cascade of sauteed onion sauce. You wonder how I became what I am.

Red wine vinegar - a true love

Last week, I made up a salad dressing involving olive oil, shallots, red wine vinegar and an almost nauseating amount of dijon mustard. And yet, and yet. It reminded me of a time when balsamic was but a word I glimpsed when gazing longingly at the Chez Panisse menu in my childhood. When red wine vinegar was the center and the light of my young world.

It's late and I need to post this, but I will get the recipe up in the next few days.

Condiment Grrl