strawberry caprese! (and a word... or two... on balsamic)

We have all had traditional caprese insalata (and if you haven't you should) - tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, olive oil and balsamic - it's awesome!  We love it!  But we saw strawberry caprese under the salad options on the menu at a nice restaurant recently and we were intrigued.  Unfortunately, we were there during one of the biggest snowstorms of the winter so they didn't have any strawberries on hand.  So, I subsequently did a little searching on the internet and got a few ideas and yeah.... oh yeah...


Two things hung me up about trying this - mozzarella with strawberries and balsamic on strawberries.  Basil I could see with the strawberries, it such a fresh flavor.  (I came across some recipes that suggested using mint, and I think that would be good too but basil sounded better to me and it was perfect.)  But the mozzarella and the balsamic with strawberries?? 

Turns out the fresh mozzarella is so mild and soft that it was great.  I wouldn't substitute regular mozz though.  And the balsamic... well, I honestly don't know how it would be if you just drizzled your regular balsamic vinegar over it... it might be good.  But when we were living in Europe we were introduced to a different kind of balsamic.

I know this may not be as fascinating to everyone as it is to me but feel free to skip or skim at will.

There are essentially 3 different things when you are talking about balsamic vinegar:

1. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale - Traditional Balsamic Vinegar.  This is the real thing, consortium certified, made only in Modena or Reggio Emilia, Italy.  It is concentrated grape must aged for a minimum of 12 years in wooden casks (and up to 100 years).  They have a consortium just for certifying it and the name "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale" is protected by the EU (basically trademarked) so there is no confusion if you know what to look for.  And the price?  You don't want to know.  I did want to know though, so I searched the internet and the cheapest I could find for a 12 yr aged bottle was $89 (100 ml, roughly 3.4 fl oz).  If you want it aged for 100 years (for the same volume) - $480!  For 3.4 oz!  Yeah, maybe in my dreams.

2.  Condimento Balsamico.  This is basically made one of 4 ways - made in the traditional way in Modena or Reggio Emilia but without consortium supervision (labeled IGP), made by the 2 orignal big-wig makers but not aged for the minimum of a full 12 years, made by the same method as the traditional but not in Modena or Reggio Emilia and without consortium supervision, or made of a combination of any of the above and/or concentrated grape must, balsamic vinegar of Modena, and often includes sugar, some kind of thickening agent and food coloring.  It is basically made to mimic the real thing - thick, sweet and not as acidic as most vinegars.  This is by far my favorite on salads and is also good for dipping breads. 

3. Balsamic Vinegar of Modena.  This is a combination of wine vinegar, grape must and/or concentrated grape must and carmel coloring.  Sometimes thickeners may be added as well.  This is the most common thing that you will find when you look for balsamic vinegar in a stateside grocery store and is very common in Italy as well.  It is not as thick or sweet and is higher in acidity than the other options.  This is my favorite when cooking pasta sauces or meat sauces, etc., when I don't want to add too much sweetness and the acidity is usally a good thing and it is good for dipping breads.  Both this and the Condimento come in a variety of brands and it can be very difficult to detirmine the quality by the packaging alone.   

The 2 on the left are condimento made with IGP concentrated grape must and sweeteners and thickeners.  (It is a little hard to find stateside, we have an Italian friend and his mom sent these to us but you can get it online and we have seen it at Whole Foods, though not these specific brands and not cheap, it was $10 for about 7 oz or so.)  The 2 on the right are regular Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (one from our local grocery store and the other my love picked up when he was in Italy).  The Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale is, like I said, in my dreams.

So, anyway, diversion aside, the condimento balsamic is awesome on this salad.  The thickness and sweetness and the tartness and little bit of acidity works so well with the strawberries - super yummy!!  If you don't have that kind of thing available you can make a balsamic reduction and add a little honey for sweetness.  I have tried it a couple times, you have to reduce it to 1/3-1/4 to get it to thicken to a syrup but you can get pretty close in the flavor.

Strawberry Caprese Insalata

Strawberries
Blueberries (optional, but were at my store for a decent price this week and they were great in this)
Cubed fresh mozzarella (cows milk or buffalo, prefer no substitutions)
Fresh basil, cut in ribbons
drizzle with balsamic (condimento preferred)
drizzle with a little olive oil (We used extra virgin because it is what we have and I worried about the strong flavor but it was good.  I would think that a nut oil would be really good though, maybe hazelnut oil.)

Easy and awesome!