Description and photo of balsamic sauce, manufacturing options. Energy value, composition, benefits and possible negative impact. Served dishes, seasoning history.
Balsamic Sauce is a flavored food supplement first made in Italy. Other names are cream or frosting. Taste - sweet and sour, spicy; consistency - thick, viscous; aroma - bright, intense, sharp, enveloping. The color depends on the type of ingredients used for cooking. In the classic version, it can be burgundy, dark pink, brownish-reddish. The purpose of using the seasoning is to combine several flavors in a dish, which cannot be combined with each other without it.
How is balsamic sauce made?
There are many options for a multi-component seasoning, but in all the main ingredient is balsamic vinegar - a sweet and sour extract of grape must, for which only barrels of expensive wood are used for aging. To obtain the desired consistency, the mixture of components is simmered for a long time or monitored to ensure that the desired texture is obtained when the components are combined.
Balsamic Sauce Recipes:
- Simple … 170 ml balsamic vinegar, 0.25 cups cane sugar, 120-130 ml water and salt to taste. It takes 25-30 minutes to cook. Do not close the pot.
- Uncooked olive sauce … Chili and Bulgarian peppers, green or red, tart, 3 pieces each, baked in the oven until the crust begins to char. Once the vegetables are cooked, they are placed in a plastic bag and placed in cold water. This will help you get rid of the skin quickly and neatly. Juice is squeezed out of 1 large lemon. 140 g of walnut kernels are pounded. In a blender bowl, grind peppers, walnuts, 4 cloves of garlic and cumin powder until completely homogeneous - 1 tsp. Pour in 2 tbsp. l. balsamic and brought to the desired consistency with olive oil. Salt to taste. The paste should be completely homogeneous.
- Classic wine … In a saucepan over low heat, boil 250 ml of balsamic vinegar, 130 ml of red fortified wine and 150-180 g of granulated sugar, preferably cane or unrefined. To taste salt, cinnamon, black pepper and dry mustard.
- Berry … Before making balsamic vinegar, prepare cherries or other berries - preferably tart ones. 200 g of cherry puree is evaporated on the fire, pouring 200 ml of balsamic and the juice of half a lemon. Add 0.25-0.5 tbsp. l. brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Creamy … Half a onion is chopped in a blender to a gruel state and fried in a deep frying pan in olive oil (40 g) until golden brown, stirring constantly. Pour in 200 ml of 30-33% cream and drive in 40 g of butter. As soon as it boils, muffle the fire to a minimum to maintain a constant temperature - it should not boil, add chopped Parmesan - 50 g, stir until completely dissolved and add 40 ml of white grape balsamic vinegar. Simmer until the desired consistency. The vapor separation is negligible, the formation of bubbles in the liquid is not allowed.
- Honey cream sauce … At home, it is enough to mix 2 parts of balsamic and 1 - liquid honey, boil, stirring constantly. Spices are added to your own taste.
- Sauce without heat treatment … To prepare balsamic sauce without a whisk, beat half a glass of white balsamic, 20 ml of olive oil, 1, 5 tbsp. l. mustard powder, 2 tsp. liquid honey. Season with herbs, cinnamon and grated black pepper.
- Japanese … Finely chop 1 shallot onion, pour balsamic (80 ml), beat with a whisk, add 80 ml of olive oil, liquid honey (1 tbsp. L.) And 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice, 1, 5 tsp. mustard. Season with black pepper and salt. Let it brew for 2-3 days, stirring constantly, in the refrigerator.
- With greens … At home, balsamic sauce is rarely prepared in this way, since flour, if distracted for at least a short time, is curtailed. In a saucepan, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, 1 glass of water, 1-3 tbsp. l. flour and 2 tbsp. l. white balsamic vinegar. Evaporate until the contents of the pan are reduced by 1/3. Remove from heat, stir in finely chopped greens - a bunch of dill, parsley and a few sprigs of celery. Stir in the grated garlic, add spices - to taste. Let it brew for 15 minutes under the lid, without cooling. If you have chosen this recipe for balsamic sauce, then it is better to first strain before serving, and only then, if required, bring to the desired taste with the help of seasonings and spices.
- With juniper … Evaporate over low heat 100 ml of real dark balsamic, 6 pine cones of juniper, 4 sticks of cloves, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tbsp. l. dark sugar. When the volume is halved, you can turn it off. Before serving, this seasoning is first filtered, and then allowed to brew for 2-3 hours.
The cream sauce is considered ready if the texture is viscous and stretches after the spoon. Adherents of a healthy diet should pay attention to options without heat treatment - all useful substances are preserved in the composition.
Composition and calorie content of balsamic cream sauce
In the photo balsamic sauce
Whatever recipe options and types of ingredients are used to prepare the seasoning, the energy value changes slightly. The supplement can be safely added to any diet for weight loss.
The calorie content of balsamic sauce is 164-188 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 0.1-0.3 g;
- Fat - 0 g;
- Carbohydrates - 45-58 g.
In the creamy version, a low fat content is allowed - up to 2 g.
Since the ingredients are not heat-treated, the vitamin-mineral complex of the balsamic cream sauce corresponds to the base - balsamic, enriched with many additives. Vitamins are represented by ascorbic acid, tocopherol, retinol. The mineral composition is dominated by sodium, chlorine, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, iron, zinc, copper. The balsamic sauce contains a high amount of organic acids, polyphenols, anthocyanins, pectins.
Thanks to such a rich chemical composition, the seasoning not only replenishes the vitamin and mineral reserve of the body, but also helps it cope with nutritional stress.
Benefits of balsamic sauce
In the XIV-XV centuries, the main component of Italian cream - balsamic - was made for medicinal purposes (only then they began to add it to dishes). The healing effect was "inherited" by the seasoning.
The benefits of balsamic sauce
- It has an antiseptic and anesthetic effect, is capable of arresting infectious inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, esophagus and intestines, and suppressing the activity of pathogenic microorganisms.
- It has a pronounced choleretic and mild diuretic effect.
- Stimulates the work of taste buds and enzymes responsible for the assimilation and digestion of food, improves appetite.
- It plays the role of an antioxidant, isolates free radicals traveling in the lumen of the intestinal loops, and stimulates the excretion in a natural way, along with accumulated toxins and toxins.
- Normalizes the work of the hematopoietic system, increases blood clotting.
- Accelerates metabolic processes and oxygen delivery throughout the body.
- Tones up, helps maintain a stable level of blood pressure.
The taste of the balsamic sauce is pleasant, every meal turns into a celebration. In the limbic part of the brain, the hippocampus, endorphins, hormones responsible for the emotional state, begin to be produced. The mood improves, the emotional state stabilizes, and unpleasant situations are temporarily forgotten. In addition, do not forget that the production of saliva increases. The likelihood of developing caries is reduced.
If this seasoning is in the diet - accelerated weight loss. This is due to an increase in general tone and acceleration of all metabolic reactions.
Balsamic cream sauce is not only a medicinal supplement to the diet. It can be used as a hair cosmetic. Thanks to it, you can make curls more manageable and shiny and increase the flow of oxygen to the hair follicles to accelerate hair growth. You just have to choose the appropriate composition options - for example, fruit, berry or olive.
Interesting facts about balsamic sauce
By the name of this seasoning, one can assume that at first it was used as a medicinal one. Indeed, the recipe was developed by Italian nutritionists who specialized in weight loss diets. Balsamic vinegar sauce has a fat burning effect and can be used to enhance the flavor of Mediterranean foods.
By the way, this seasoning is introduced into the diet for weight loss as a stinging additive. Thanks to her, you can refuse unpleasant supplements in the form of tablets that accelerate digestion.
The balsamic flavor was first introduced into the haute cuisine of France and England, and then it became popular in Japan. The culinary experts of the East have improved the seasoning by developing their own recipes - without heat treatment. In the photo, balsamic sauce, cooked in a small homeland, in Italy, and mixed in Japan, looks equally appetizing, but the beneficial properties of the second option are more pronounced.
Watch a video on making balsamic sauce:
It is not necessary to thoroughly observe the proportions that are indicated in the ready-made recipes.
You can experiment with the preparation of balsamic sauce yourself, adding fruits, herbs and vegetables to your own taste, stirring in spices. Each new ingredient gives the popular condiment a fresh, unusual flavor.
