Balsamic Vinegar
I know this topic might sound strange but bear with me since I did find something interesting about balsamic vinegar that made it post worthy.
I became a fan of balsamic vinegar last year when I tried one that was aged 30 years at an Italian restaurant in Munich. So today while at Dean & Deluca I thought I would “splurge” 8 or 12 dinars on some decent balsamic vinegar. While checking out the bottles a salesman came over and told me about a 100 year old aged Acetaia Leonardi balsamic vinegar. I thought that was very interesting so he showed me the bottle and told me they produced only 200 of those bottles and 4 (actually 3 since one got sold already) bottles were available in Kuwait. Now I figured the bottle would be expensive but not THIS expensive. Turns out the bottle was “slightly” out of my budget costing KD190! The salesman told me they could order a bottle that was 300 years old at a cost of get this… KD2,500!
Although I wouldn’t pay KD2,500 or KD190 for balsamic vinegar (or any other consumable product (ok maybe for a burger)) I do appreciate having the choice and that’s what I like about Dean & Deluca and the over priced imported stuff at Sultan Center. I would rather have the choice and choose not to than not have the choice at all.
Here is a link to an interesting review of Acetaia Leonardi balsamic vinegars. [Link]
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40 Comments, add your own...
1. suspic | June 5th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Do you use it for sexy time? =O
2. Zorbon | June 5th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I am not sure I would believe a bottle of oil existed for 300 years, and is available for sale as a consumer product….
3. Abdullah | June 6th, 2009 at 12:23 am
I know mothers would by that. Women would brag till they choke.
4. Breeze | June 6th, 2009 at 12:50 am
They put it under several stages of heat and pressure to make it taste as if it was aged for that period of yrs.
5. Mark | June 6th, 2009 at 12:55 am
Breeze thats nonsense. When they say something is aged for 25 years or 100 years it means its been left to mature in a barrel for that amount of years.
6. Asmaa | June 6th, 2009 at 1:12 am
Perhaps Breeze is insinuating that heating increases age too
Eg. Too much sun tan, and you know what happens to the skin xD
7. Realist | June 6th, 2009 at 1:16 am
Only if they can tell the difference.
8. GeordieLass | June 6th, 2009 at 4:16 am
i can’t believe you said you’d pay that for a burger tsk tsk =/
9. Sfsa78 | June 6th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Heinz balsamic vinegar sold at sultan centre for around kd2. :)
10. Anon | June 6th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Doesn’t balsamic vinegar have alcohol in it?
11. sv9211 | June 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Hi Mark,
‘I know this topic might sound strange but bare with me’
should be
I know this topic might sound strange but BEAR with me
Keep up the good work, Cheers
12. organic kuwait | June 6th, 2009 at 9:18 am
my father who loves his food would pay that easily… my husband too appreciates good food and would get this.. the maximum i would pay for balsamic is 60 kd .. but like u said i love having a choice!
13. Mr.pedro | June 6th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Damn Looks Neat and i already can feel how it taste Like MmmmMmmm
14. eleventh.st | June 6th, 2009 at 10:37 am
I think balsamic vinegar is one of the few items i might overspend on because it is something that you can tell the difference on with the quality of the product. Good quality balsamic vinegar is so yummy!
15. Mark | June 6th, 2009 at 10:43 am
sv9211: thanks fixed
16. Daddy's Girl | June 6th, 2009 at 11:31 am
mmm i love balsamic vingegar… but i love my 190 kds more :D
17. cajie | June 6th, 2009 at 11:35 am
The 2,500 kd vinegar should go very nicely with the 3000 Kd caviar.
18. 3baid | June 6th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
If you eat at Dean & Deluca, you can ask for as much balsamic vinegar as you want. I always do.
19. Mark | June 6th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
that generally applies to any restaurant
20. helterskelter | June 6th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
“ok, maybe for a burger” – I totally agree!!
21. vampire | June 6th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
and what will be the difference between the 25 or 100 years old balsamic vinegar and the ordinary co-op quality one?
22. Zorbon | June 6th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Mark, I would accept, 25, 50, even 100 years…
But come on, 300 years?! Wine is rarely aged that long…
23. Kpulse | June 6th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Lorenzo, the italian restaurant in Kuwait also sell balsamic vinegar.. You should try it, it’s all the way from Italy, and its really good. However I don’t know if its aged or not..
24. Holla | June 6th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Why is it called balsamic, what you put it in your hair?
25. Mark | June 6th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Zorbon: Google it
26. cajie | June 6th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
or Bing it!!
http://www.bing.com/search?q=balsamic+vinegar&form=QBLH
27. TweeZ | June 6th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
did you know that balsamic vinegar is actually very healthy? It also lowers blood pressure
28. Ozy | June 6th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I think it’s a retarded choice honestly… put that money to charity and to people who need it.
29. Mark | June 6th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Ozy if you want to shove charity into everything its easy. How about you sell your computer and give that money to charity or how about you sell your car and give the money to charity and ride the bicycle instead?
30. Nobu | June 6th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
The 10 KD Modena Balsamic vinegar at Sultan is excellent for salads. It’s a tiny bottle, but you only need a couple of drops per person, and I do mean drops. It’s quite robust. Mix it up with XV olive oil and you’re good to go.
31. Ozy | June 6th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
My computer(laptop actually) doesn’t cost 190kd and even if it did the average cost of a computer is a lot more than an average bottle of vinegar.
Im not saying spending a lot of money on something is bad. But honestly 190kd for a bottle of vinegar is ridiculous. To each his own though.
32. klk | June 6th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
hee
33. Khaled | June 7th, 2009 at 12:41 am
This is the real stuff. The vinegar found at supermarkets and sold for less than hm, 10kd is not real balsamic.
I would love to buy some “real” balsamic vinegear in saudi arabia. But a small bottle. 100ml perhaps? if anyone knows just comment here ;)
34. Patrick | June 7th, 2009 at 2:27 am
Ozy:
To some people its silly to spend so much money on a guitar, isn’t this the same thing? I’m sure a chef would love to spend that much on a bottle of Balsamic Vinegar, like a musician would love to spend so much money on a guitar or any other musical instrument.
How about you give the money to a charity instead of buying that new guitar? ;]
35. Xulfer | June 7th, 2009 at 9:03 am
doesn’t this affect the acid reflux you were earlier diagnosed with? ‘Cause I love balsamic, but it kills me.
36. Ozy | June 7th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
You totally missed the point patrick. An average bottle of vinegar is about like 10kd? So when youre spending 200kd or 2500kd on vinegar it’s like youre spending 20times as much or even 250times as much. 1000kd for a guitar in retrospect is not considered a lot for a guitar.
37. Mark | June 7th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
It is when you consider the fact you can get one for like KD50.
Same with bicycles, you can get one for KD20 and you can get one for KD2000. Cars also, you can get one for 1000kd and you can get one for 100,000.
38. Patrick | June 7th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Ozy:
You can get guitars for as cheap as 30 KD and as much as 1000KD, so its the same thing, you can get a bottle of vinegar for 20 KD and you can get a bottle of vinegar for 200 KD. Its the samething for nearly everything, you can find camera’s for 30 KD and you can find camera’s for a lot more. etc.
39. yo_ghurt | June 8th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Kpulse – Balsamic vinegar only comes from Italy. In fact it only comes from Modena. If it ain’t from Modena, it ain’t balsamic…
40. Mike | September 30th, 2009 at 8:24 am
We sell a balsamic that we import from Producers in Modena. It is blended from barrels aged from 10-18 years. Out of all of the expensive ones I have tasted it is one of my favorites for the price. We are out of stock but we will have more by the end of the month. We currently don’t ship out of the U.S. but I am working on finding an alternative. Check us out and send me an email with your address if you are interested and I can look into shipping costs. http://www.calivirgin.com -Mike Coldani
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