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As an all-around food obsessive, I’m constantly looking for inspiration when it comes to cooking. And as a professional food editor, I know that inspiration can come at any time, and from any place. Of course, I look to social media for recipe inspiration, but over the years I’ve found my best ideas come from getting out into the world. Whether it’s at a restaurant, my local farmer’s market, or on vacation, nothing gets my imagination going like seeing how the other half eats.
It’s how I’ve found some of my favorite dishes, and on a recent trip to Italy, I tried a dessert that has been stuck in my mind ever since. This is why you need to try balsamic vinegar on ice cream.
Why Italians Put Balsamic Vinegar on Ice Cream
Between the TikTokers adding soy sauce to ice cream and olive oil drizzles popping up on scoop shop menus across the country, it’s safe to say savory ice cream toppings are having a moment. I know that vinegar and ice cream might sound like an odd couple, but this is not just any vinegar.
What I ate in Italy was vanilla gelato topped with Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. And yet, it blew my mind. It was one of the best desserts I’ve had all year. Still, how could a two-ingredient dessert taste so complex? Here’s how.
Courtney Kassel
Italian cuisine is all about keeping things simple, and dishes are frequently 2-, 3-, or just a few more ingredients. But in order to ensure simple dishes are still delicious, you have to use the best of the best ingredients. We’re talking real Parmigiano Reggiano to San Marzano tomatoes and this Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. Luckily, there’s a easy way to tell if you are using the real thing: look for the DOP seal.
DOP (or PDO in English) means Protection Designation of Origin, and denotes that an Italian product has been produced, processed, and prepared in accordance with specific regulations and in a specific place. Think of it like Champagne (which can’t be called Champagne if it’s grown outside the eponymous region in France).
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is, simply put, the good stuff. Really, it's the best stuff. It's rich, sweet, thick, nuanced, and unlike any vinegar you've ever had—balsamic or not.
What Is Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena?
Produced in Modena for centuries, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is aged for a minimum of 12 years in wooden barrels. The vinegar is made with cooked grape must that gets transferred through a series of barrels that get progressively smaller, getting sweeter and thicker as it moves onto the next barrel. The water content of the grape must mixture slowly evaporates and it ferments, and the resulting vinegar becomes more and more concentrated throughout the series of barrels.
It’s this aging process, as well as the specific types of grapes used, and the special used in the barrels that produce Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena’s uniquely complex flavor. It’s beautiful paired with rich pasta dishes, simply grilled proteins or veggies, cheese, fresh fruit like strawberries or melon, or creamy desserts like gelato or panna cotta.
To be called Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and bear the DOP seal (in a specially-shaped bottle, no less!), it must be aged for 12 years. There's an even more special version, Extravecchio or "extra-old," which is aged for 25 years.
I'll reason with you: Like so many of the best things, this stuff ain't cheap. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena takes an incredible amount of time and work, and so it comes at a premium. That's why when you see it served in small drops versus heaping drizzles. If Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is not in your budget, there's another balsamic from Modena that's great with gelato, too.
The Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Consortium
What Is Balsamic Vinegar of Modena?
Think of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI as the younger, more accessible relative of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. Nicknamed "black gold," it follows similarly strict standards, produced only in the Modena and Emilia Romagna regions with specific types of grapes before being aged in wooden barrels. Rather than a DOP seal, this vinegar will have PGI on the label or in the name. PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication, and it's another type of certification that ensures a product is made in accordance with geographic and production specifications.
Within this product, there are two types: Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (Aceto Balsamico di Modena), which is aged at least 60 days and less than three years, and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Aged (Aceto Balsamico di Modena Invecchiato), which is aged at least three years. Aged Balsamic Vinegar of Modena is my pick for desserts, as it offers a fruity and robust flavor that perfectly balances out sweets.
Both types of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI are much more accessible in the United States, both in their distribution and affordability, and you can likely find a brand that’s made with the PGI designation in your local grocery store. Bottles labelled balsamic reduction or glaze—which use a cooking process to mimic the natural reduction that happens in the aging process—will work too, but if you want to do as the Italians do, get the Italian stuff. Sorry to the affogato, but this is officially my new favorite gelato (and ice cream) topping.
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