FRAGOLE ALL'ACETO BALSAMICO
Macerated strawberries with balsamic vinegar
Serves 6 to 8
On a visit to the West Coast, I had agreed to prepare a menu for the food
editor of a major California daily. The dessert was strawberries with balsamic
vinegar. Unhappily, I had ignored my own principles and had committed
myself to strawberries before seeing them, with the result that I had to
make
do with the only strawberries I could find, pale and unripe. When the editor
saw them she said, "Forget about them. I am not fond of strawberries
even
when they are perfect. We can do without a dessert." "If they
are not good we
won't eat them," I replied, "but you are going to taste them."
When the
strawberries were done, the balsamic vinegar had erased every trace of
greenness, and they tasted as though they had been penetrated by the most
ardent of summer suns. We not only tasted them, we finished them. Although
it lS a good recipe to remember whenever you are stuck with less than ripe
berries, balsamic vinegar on strawberries at their peak of ripeness is an
experience not to be missed.
2 pounds strawberries
4 to 6 tablespoons granulated sugar,
depending on the ripeness of the berries
2 tablespoons aceto balsamico
(balsamic vinegar)
1. Wash the strawberries, leaving the stem
on so that water does not filter in.
2. Remove all the stems and cut those berries that might be thicker than 1 inch at their
broadest point into two pieces. Put all the berries
in a serving bowl.
3. An hour before serving, add the sugar
and toss gently but thoroughly. The sugar will
dissolve and form a thin syrup.
4. Just before serving, add the balsamic vinegar and toss delicately several times.
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