4 ms·

So what would make it fake?

kjellsbells 3y ago
There's fake as in "this product is not any kind of vinegar" and fake as is "this vinegar has not been produced in the canonical way, in the canonical place". Italy has local standards called, DOP and IGP, if I recall correctly. DOP is the elite stuff. You dont put this on salads. Some varieties are almost gel like. This is the stuff that was sitting in someones attic for ten years. IGP is still good but not as good, and it still has to come from the right region. Costco in the US sells Kirkland balsamic vinegar di Modena, and it is IGP. You can imagine that at Costco scale, it is not sitting in someones attic. This is still excellent, by the way. Then there is all the rest, that claims to be balsamic vinegar, but was produced to meet high scale, low price points. The article is simply saying that what you likely buy in the supermarket is unlikely to be DOP and might not even be IGP. Thats not really news.
IshKebab 3y ago
If it wasn't balsamic vinegar at all. This is just saying it isn't high quality balsamic vinegar from Moderna. This is just about protected names. If you make champagne but you don't do it in Champagne then it is "fake champagne", but if you make cheddar but not in Cheddar then it's "real".
- chongli 3y ago
  If you’re making the product with cheaper ingredients and a simpler process but using the same name as a product with expensive ingredients and a long, complicated process then you’re making a fake product and attempting to capitalize on the name recognition of the original. It’s every bit as egregious as taking iron pyrite and calling it gold.
  - chrisjj 3y ago
    But they are not making the product. They are making a different product differently named. > but using the same name as a product with expensive ingredients Incorrect. The difference in name is omission of the word traditional.
cogman10 3y ago
A better question to ask is "what makes it real". The problem I have with "fake" and "real", particularly with Italian and French goods, is there's often a "Produced from this region by these people" incorporated into the definition of "real". This is very apparent when you look into things like "Mozzarella". Italy would have you believe that mozzarella could only be produced in Italy as if the region somehow blesses the cheese with magic properties. The reality is the mozzarella is just renat + milk. The only arguable difference is which animal milk is used (for most, it's beef). If the breakdown process of balsamic vinegar ends up producing a chemically and flavor profile identical to just red wine vinegar and grape must, then who cares if it's "fake"?
- throwup238 3y ago
  > A better question to ask is "what makes it real". Aging in barrels, just like whiskey and a bunch of other alcohols. The geographic designation is only important because it's the only authority that guarantees that the manufacturer is selling what they claim. I couldn't care less about Modena or Reggio Emilia but I want something that's been aged in a barrel, not just mixed with thickener to make it look reduced. It's not acceptable to dilute Everclear with food coloring and flavoring and call it whiskey, regardless of geographic designation, which is what these "fake" balsamic vinegars are essentially doing. > If the breakdown process of balsamic vinegar ends up producing a chemically and flavor profile identical to just red wine vinegar and grape must, then who cares if it's "fake"? The process doesn't produce the same flavors. Not even close. As a lover of real aged balsamic, it just doesn't compare. It's just cheap and good enough for many recipes so I use it as often as the real stuff, but it's a cheap imitation through and through.
chrisjj 3y ago
> So what would make it fake? Claiming to be something it is not.

There's fake as in "this product is not any kind of vinegar" and fake as is "this vinegar has not been produced in the canonical way, in the canonical place". Italy has local standards called, DOP and IGP, if I recall correctly. DOP is the elite stuff. You dont put this on salads. Some varieties are almost gel like. This is the stuff that was sitting in someones attic for ten years. IGP is still good but not as good, and it still has to come from the right region. Costco in the US sells Kirkland balsamic vinegar di Modena, and it is IGP. You can imagine that at Costco scale, it is not sitting in someones attic. This is still excellent, by the way. Then there is all the rest, that claims to be balsamic vinegar, but was produced to meet high scale, low price points. The article is simply saying that what you likely buy in the supermarket is unlikely to be DOP and might not even be IGP. Thats not really news.

IshKebab 3y ago

If it wasn't balsamic vinegar at all. This is just saying it isn't high quality balsamic vinegar from Moderna. This is just about protected names. If you make champagne but you don't do it in Champagne then it is "fake champagne", but if you make cheddar but not in Cheddar then it's "real".

chongli 3y ago
If you’re making the product with cheaper ingredients and a simpler process but using the same name as a product with expensive ingredients and a long, complicated process then you’re making a fake product and attempting to capitalize on the name recognition of the original. It’s every bit as egregious as taking iron pyrite and calling it gold.
- chrisjj 3y ago
  But they are not making the product. They are making a different product differently named. > but using the same name as a product with expensive ingredients Incorrect. The difference in name is omission of the word traditional.

cogman10 3y ago

A better question to ask is "what makes it real". The problem I have with "fake" and "real", particularly with Italian and French goods, is there's often a "Produced from this region by these people" incorporated into the definition of "real". This is very apparent when you look into things like "Mozzarella". Italy would have you believe that mozzarella could only be produced in Italy as if the region somehow blesses the cheese with magic properties. The reality is the mozzarella is just renat + milk. The only arguable difference is which animal milk is used (for most, it's beef). If the breakdown process of balsamic vinegar ends up producing a chemically and flavor profile identical to just red wine vinegar and grape must, then who cares if it's "fake"?

throwup238 3y ago
> A better question to ask is "what makes it real". Aging in barrels, just like whiskey and a bunch of other alcohols. The geographic designation is only important because it's the only authority that guarantees that the manufacturer is selling what they claim. I couldn't care less about Modena or Reggio Emilia but I want something that's been aged in a barrel, not just mixed with thickener to make it look reduced. It's not acceptable to dilute Everclear with food coloring and flavoring and call it whiskey, regardless of geographic designation, which is what these "fake" balsamic vinegars are essentially doing. > If the breakdown process of balsamic vinegar ends up producing a chemically and flavor profile identical to just red wine vinegar and grape must, then who cares if it's "fake"? The process doesn't produce the same flavors. Not even close. As a lover of real aged balsamic, it just doesn't compare. It's just cheap and good enough for many recipes so I use it as often as the real stuff, but it's a cheap imitation through and through.

chrisjj 3y ago

> So what would make it fake? Claiming to be something it is not.