Lead in Vinegar: California Warning for Balsamic Products

[Math Is Hard]

The attitudes about lead consumption have certainly changed through the years.

Lead acetate used as a sweetner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate#Historical_use

Would you like some wine with that gout?

Didn't people also once use lead in cosmetics?

 

[Evo]

I'm not sure I'd trust wikipedia as the authoritative source on this. "Good" stuff is one thing, but calling it not "real" stuff is another. It's still real, just not aged very long, so not good. The "good" stuff gets the special stamp of approval basically. The 10 year old one is still incredibly tasty. The one my gourmet friend had was much thicker...but he also can afford to spend $100 on a bottle of vinegar. It's really no different than trying to find good olive oils. There are the cheap ones that are just fine for cooking, and then really good ones that you'd want to use only sparingly and can be enjoyed for their own sake (such as for dipping bread).

Read your label, you will find what you have is not the real thing.

I'm serious I saw the PBS special about it, the real thing looks like mollases, it does not resemble vinegar at all. I've also seen it used on one cooking show where the person was in Italy at one of the few families that have the abiltiy to produce it and they let the cook pour a bit.

Italy is known for the restrictions that they put on foods and wine. There is no 10 year old true balsamic vinegar.

If you don't believe me, google it.

Here is a good explanation. http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/articles/balsamic-vinegar-famed-elixir.aspx

 

[Math Is Hard]

You'd need one aged longer than the 10 year one I have for that, but yeah, I could imagine it being done. The aging makes it sweeter. It loses a lot of that sharpness of vinegar. I'd think a better one would even make a good topping for berries.

I guess until I've had the real deal, it's hard for me to imagine the sweetness.

 

[Math Is Hard]

You think that's crazy - we can't use a whole family of optical glass because it contains lead (vitrified in the glass !) or chips that contains a few ug of lead in the internal solder.
But we can't ship Li-Ion batteries as reguar air freight so we had to go back to using lead acid.
So a few mg of lead safely encapsulated in glass = bad,
several kg of lead as nice soluble lead sulphate = safe.

Is lead crystal still sold? Are there any restrictions on that?

 

[turbo]

The salad that I had was wonderful, with no hint of acidity. The dressing was sweet and very rich with a flavor that seemed to go well with fruit, vegetables, and (sparse) greens. I was blown away. It was probably balsamic vinegar with some nice cold-pressed olive oil and some subtle herb flavors. Then when I looked at prices for the "good stuff" in the gourmet food store, I was blown away. Sticker shock.

Stay away, MIH! If you get a taste for the real deal, you'll be starting up Nigerian lottery scams to fuel your habit. I'm lucky that I have a real Jones for complex hot stuff to cook with and to use as condiments. I can survive with Heinz Cider Vinegar on my greens and use it to make vinaigrette with cold-pressed olive oil and herbs from our garden and deck. I wouldn't turn down a little bottle of Modena balsamic, but I'm not going to buy it, any more than I would buy 75-year-old single malt Scotch or ancient bottles of Burgundy. If anybody would like to share these with me, I will gladly kick in some of the wildest, hard-*** chili relish and salsas that you have ever experienced, though.

Is the thread derailed sufficiently, Evo, or do we have to haul MIH farther down the garden path?

 

[Evo]

The salad that I had was wonderful, with no hint of acidity. The dressing was sweet and very rich with a flavor that seemed to go well with fruit, vegetables, and (sparse) greens. I was blown away. It was probably balsamic vinegar with some nice cold-pressed olive oil and some subtle herb flavors. Then when I looked at prices for the "good stuff" in the gourmet food store, I was blown away. Sticker shock.

Stay away, MIH! If you get a taste for the real deal, you'll be starting up Nigerian lottery scams to fuel your habit. I'm lucky that I have a real Jones for complex hot stuff to cook with and to use as condiments. I can survive with Heinz Cider Vinegar on my greens and use it to make vinaigrette with cold-pressed olive oil and herbs from our garden and deck. I wouldn't turn down a little bottle of Modena balsamic, but I'm not going to buy it, any more than I would buy 75-year-old single malt Scotch or ancient bottles of Burgundy. If anybody would like to share these with me, I will gladly kick in some of the wildest, hard-*** chili relish and salsas that you have ever experienced, though.

Is the thread derailed sufficiently, Evo, or do we have to haul MIH farther down the garden path?

The law suit is about balsamic vinegar specifically from Modena, but who knows what was actually tested, people don't even realize that the "balsamic" vinegar they buy is imitation. See my last post. There is no shame in not knowing, I just happened to run across information on it, otherwise I wouldn't have understood the difference either.

 

[LowlyPion]

I guess until I've had the real deal, it's hard for me to imagine the sweetness.

There are some commercial ones - not the hoity-toity ones with residues in the cask from before Mussolini took office - but ones that are reasonably condensed and not at all sharp and certainly affordable. They are worth a try, though I still wouldn't put them on berries.

Tasting balsamic:

 

[turbo]

The law suit is about balsamic vinegar specifically from Modena, but who knows what was actually tested, people don't even realize that the "balsamic" vinegar they buy is imitation. See my last post.

That's the really bad part! Once you get away from the point of origin, the brand can get corrupted without legal recourse. Spend a little time in Vidalia county, Georgia, and see how seriously people take this. The local Rotary club buys their Vidalia onions from Bland Farms in Vidalia county, and I pay whatever they want for at least a couple of 25# bags to support their charities. Take a swing through Gorgia in mid-May, and you'll see all kinds of road-side stands WAY outside of Vidalia county selling sweet onions and there is a constant battle in the local papers about the authenticity of those onions.

 

[Evo]

I give up, I thought people would appreciate learning about what real balsamic vinegar really is as opposed to imitations. Lowly, it HAS to have the musk and be from the old original stock or it is not balsamic. It's just wine vinegar otherwise.



Ok, for example, you can't massage any cow with beer and call it Kobe beef! Now does it make sense?

 

[turbo]

Ok, for example, you can't massage any cow with beer and call it Kobe beef! Now does it make sense?

Ply me with massage and beer, and I could stand to be called Kobe, XYZ, or any other label. It's hard to make people look beyond marketing, though, because it's so heavily programmed. "Balsamic" vinegar is the "expensive" stuff that you buy in the supermarket that costs a few bucks more than regular vinegar because it's so special...

I'm so glad that we don't get the Food Network out her in the boonies!

 

[Evo]

Didn't people also once use lead in cosmetics?

Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Henry the 8th) used a thick white lead paste to cover the pock marks on her face caused by smallpox. It caused her to become ill over time and a bit "demented". There is probably a better term for her condition. Oh yeah, lead poisoning.

 

[LowlyPion]

I give up, I thought people would appreciate learning about what real balsamic vinegar really is as opposed to imitations. Lowly, it HAS to have the musk and be from the old original stock or it is not balsamic. It's just wine vinegar otherwise.



Ok, for example, you can't massage any cow with beer and call it Kobe beef! Now does it make sense?

I know, the original musk and all. Like it's Napoleon Brandy from a cask with even a molecule left from Napoleon's lifetime in it. I'm sure they are sweet and all, but I'm perfectly happy with the imitations. Trader Joe's makes a 15 year aged one that, fake as it may be to the purists protecting their traditions in Modena, I find pretty decent and a bit better than some of the pricey ones at the supermarket.

Btw, the cows get to drink the beer, not just have it slathered on their fur.

 

[Evo]

Btw, the cows get to drink the beer, not just have it slathered on their fur.

You know what they say about contented cows.

I'd like to try some of the Wagyu beef that you can get here in the US.

 

[LowlyPion]

I'd like to try some of the Wagyu beef that you can get here in the US.

http://www.yama-beef.com/cgi-bin/beef/scan/se=gift

 

[Evo]

http://www.yama-beef.com/cgi-bin/beef/scan/se=gift

Yeah, $245 for 5.5 pounds, turbo will freak.

 

[LowlyPion]

Yeah, $245 for 5.5 pounds, turbo will freak.

He wouldn't get it for you?

 

[Evo]

He wouldn't get it for you?

Not even if i bagged a moose and had an Evinrude motor.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Not even if i bagged a moose and had an Evinrude motor.

 

[~christina~]

The law suit is about balsamic vinegar specifically from Modena, but who knows what was actually tested, people don't even realize that the "balsamic" vinegar they buy is imitation. See my last post. There is no shame in not knowing, I just happened to run across information on it, otherwise I wouldn't have understood the difference either.

Oh my, I have recently purchased, Balsamic vinegar from costco.
The bottle looks sort of fancy and is made of glass. The company, is Monari Federzoni is supposively in Italy where the vinegar is made.
I'm not sure, but is 2g of sugar per tablespoon, alot? (which would mean it's aged)

 

[turbo]

Yeah, $245 for 5.5 pounds, turbo will freak.

Holy Stinkin' Moly! Do you snort that stuff?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Henry the 8th) used a thick white lead paste to cover the pock marks on her face caused by smallpox. It caused her to become ill over time and a bit "demented". There is probably a better term for her condition. Oh yeah, lead poisoning.

Poor thing! She should have just gone with a beauty patch.

“Beauty patches”—pieces of velvet or silk cut into the shape of stars, moons, hearts, and similar figures—were frequently applied to the face and body to cover smallpox scars, and similar marks. A “secret language” even developed through their use: A patch near the mouth meant you were flirtatious; one next to the right cheek signaled you were married; one on the left cheek announced you were engaged; one at the corner of the eye meant you were somebody’s mistress.

http://www.vintageconnection.net/ModesInMakeup.htm

I wondered what that fad was all about. It makes sense that it would catch on if there were a lot of people trying to cover up pox scars.