Vinegar, Vincotto, and Verjus: Part Two, Vincotto

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

Sweeter and thicker than traditional vinegars, vincotto is a condiment that no foodie's pantry should be without. The word vincotto is translated as "cooked wine." Vincotto is made from Negroamaro and Black Malavasia grapes that have been left to dry on the vine or over wooden frames. The dried grapes are then gently boiled for at least 24 hours until the juices are reduced to 20% of their original volume. The resulting syrup, along with the mother vinegar or starter, is stored in aged oak barrels for up to four years.

Vincotto contains no alcohol, preservatives, or colorings. It comes in five flavors: original (agrodolce), fig, lemon, chili pepper, and raspberry and is sometimes compared to balsamic vinegar. But once you have tasted vincotto, you will probably agree that there is no comparison.

The exlir is a healthy eater's dream condiment. It is high in polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants. Despite its spicy sweetness and velvety texture, vincotto has a mere 10 calories and 2 carbohydrates per tablespoon. It's so thick and sweet that you can use it alone to dress salad greens and skip adding the oil to your salads.

Here are some other ways to get creative with vincotto in your cooking:

• Toss oven roasted root vegetables with lemon or original vincotto just before serving them.


• Drizzle original vincotto over thick pieces of parmesan cheese, grilled asparagus, or beef carpaccio for easy appetizers.


• Use it in place of your usual vinegar in a tomato or spinach salad.


• Try it as a sauce substitute over grilled fish, chicken, game, beef, or pork.


• Offer small bowls of all the vincotto flavors along side a bowl of your best olive oil for bread dipping at the start of a meal. It also makes a yummy dipping sauce for cold or room temperature steamed green beans.


• Toss hot penne pasta with oven-roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, and a bit of chili vincotto for an unusual side dish that's especially good with roast chicken.


• Instead of adding vinegar to finish pan of sauteed greens, try a bit of fig or original vincotto.


• Toss together chunks of avocado, diced red onion, and cherry tomatoes with original vincotto for a quick salad.


• Drizzle some original or chili vincotto over hot, boiled, tiny, new potatoes; then sprinkle with green onions and cooked diced bacon bits for a delicious potato salad.


• Add a splash or two of original vincotto to pan sauteed mushrooms mixed with caramelized onions. Serve as a side dish with grilled steak.


• Pour a bit in minestrone or white bean soup.


• Put a few drops of original vincotto on slices of cantaloupe melon or halved fresh figs which have been wrapped with thin slices of prosciutto.


• Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream over a piece of toasted pound cake (toast 1 inch slices of pound cake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes), top with fresh raspberries or strawberries, and drizzle with a bit of raspberry or fig vincotto.


• Grill fresh peaches, stuff them with a teaspoon or two of mascarpone cheese and drizzle them with fig vincotto. For a bit of crunch, crumble some amaretti cookies over the peaches or sprinkle them with sliced toasted almonds.


• Offer small bowls of fig vincotto and warm melted dark chocolate along side some fresh strawberries. Dip the berries in the vincotto and then in the chocolate.


• Can't get enough of it? Take a page from the book of true vincotto lovers who have been known to serve small portions of it in cordial glasses for drinking straight up!

Serves/Makes: 2

• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 4 small zucchini (4-6 inches long), sliced 1/2 inch thick on the diagonal
• 2 tablespoons original or fig vincotto