Strawberries and orange slices with balsamic vinegar syrup

Vinegar for dessert? Yes, the Italians do it! They splash balsamic vinegar over strawberries, sprinkle sugar over them before eating them.

I learnt to do this while in Italy. It was the season for wild berries and the restaurants were offering them for dessert.

The waiter suggested it and intrigued, I agreed. I watched fascinated as he placed tiny wild strawberries into a stemmed glass, dusted sugar all over and finally drizzled pure black balsamic vinegar over the lot.

You squash the berries with a spoon to allow the vinegar to seep in before eating and it becomes the ultimate strawberry experience!

Later, I found out that he had used a good balsamic vinegar, aged for at least 12 years or more, and it is expensive. It is not unusual for these vinegars to cost as much as $90 a bottle.

Yet using balsamic vinegar over fruit offers yet another fat-free dessert option. No butter, no cream and just as delicious.

While you could, as the waiter did, separately add the vinegar and the sugar to the fruit, if you “adulterate” the vinegar by cooking it with some sugar, you can use even the supermarket balsamic vinegars and still obtain the flavour, making it affordable.

Of course fresh fruit does not need any advertisement, but you do not need to restrict yourself to strawberries with this recipe – you can adopt the same technique for orange slices or even mango. That black vinegar syrup just lifts a fresh fruit dessert to new heights!

Ingredients:

Strawberries and orange in balsamic vinegar syrup (For 4-6)

• 2 oranges
• 250g  of strawberries
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup sugar

Method:

1. You can make the syrup beforehand. Place the balsamic vinegar, water and sugar in a small pot and heat gently till it turns syrupy. Leave aside.
2. Using a knife, peel the oranges and slice the fruit, then cut the slices into quarters. Rinse the strawberries quickly under a tap and hull them. Cut them into half if they are large.
3. Place the cut fruit into a bowl and spoon the vinegar syrup over. Dress with a mint leaf.
4. If liked, you could add Asian fruit such as mango slices and pineapple to the mix as well. You will be surprised what a little vinegar will do to the flavours!