The name balsamic vinegar is a translation of the Italian name aceto balsamico, which indicates a heterogeneous group of vinegars with some common features.
The various forms of the word balsam all originated from the Latin balsamum, which in turn was derived from the Ancient Greek bálsamon, attested since the 4th century BCE.
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale) is an international regulated name (Italy’s Denominazione di Origine Protetta and the European Union's Protected Designation of Origin) and can only be produced in the Modena and Reggio-Emilia regions in Italy, obtained exclusively from the grape varieties of Lambrusco, Sangiovese, Trebbiano, Albana, Ancellotta, Fortana and Montuni.
Balsamic vinegars are generally described as being of ancient origin, dating back to the early Middle Ages, and probably even earlier, and as is well known, they are deeply rooted in the culinary history of the Italian provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Its precise origins are uncertain, but the practice of cooking grape must—pressed grapes with their juice, seeds, and stems—dates back to the ancient Romans, who drank the resulting liquid as medicine and used it as a condiment for food.
The Balsamic Vinegar presence was already at that time documented as disinfectant “medicament” for the digestion in the Gallic campaigns of Julius Caesar.
In the first century AD, Columella wrote a famous agricultural treatise called De Re Rustica. In the first book of the treatise, Columella indicates that the grape juice must be boiled in a place that “should be neither narrow nor dark”, so that the servant in charge of cooking has enough room to move around, and that the firewood for cooking should be prepared before the harvest.
Pliny the Elder in his book Naturalis Historia he simply specifies that the grape must should be boiled in lead or bronze containers and that cooking should be conducted when there is no moon.
In the Middle Ages, balsamic vinegar was made by fermenting grape must in barrels for a substantial period of time, often years. The first written treatise that mentions vinegar in general is probably De rerum naturis by Rabanus Maurus Magnentius, a Carolingian scholar and clergyman in Germany, who composed his book between AD 842 and 846.
In 1556, the first volume was written, called “La Grassa”, which reported a very scrupulous classification of the types of Balsamic Vinegar and of the different usage possibilities. It was during the Renaissance that the Balsamic Vinegar of the Acetaie Estensi (the Dukes reigning in Modena at that time) was renowned at the highest levels of European aristocracies.
History of balsamic vinegars
