Whether great chefs or home cooks, connoisseurs reserve these these pricey olive oils for use as a last-minute condiment for a dish, adding a bit of it at table to a plate of soup or a sheaf of asparagus, or drizzling it over a simply grilled fish. If you want to be a spendthrift with that bottle of Badia a Coltibuono, pour some over slices of tomato that have been salted, peppered, and sprinkled with sherry vinegar. Both are first pressings made exclusively from the Arbequina olive. No matter whether an olive oil's price is reasonable or excessive, if it's good, you don't want to damage its flavor by blending it with a poor vinegar. The widely distributed Dessaux Red Wine Vinegar Aged in Wood is a sound choice for those who don't make their vinegar at home.
Balsamic vinegar is overrated.
Made in Modena from the reduced, fermented juice of the trebbiano grape and long-aged in increasingly smaller barrels of different woods, the real thing is prized by Italians as something to be sprinkled on strawberries or vanilla ice cream, or, if it is more than 20 years of age, as a tonic made by adding a few precious drops to a glass of mineral water. For vinaigrette, avoid it, unless you fancy the taste of burnt sugar in your salads. A s with the best of cooking, salads are inspired not by a recipe but by the best products available. Whether you shop in a supermarket or take advantage of the fresher produce at a farmers market, let the ingredients that look best determine the composition of your salads. Do not be discouraged from trying one or more of the following combinations if you can't find one or two ingredients, and don't dismiss any of the suggestions for their lack of specific proportions.