Cooking with olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil Dressing: Getting the Ratio Right
Balsamic and olive oil are poured together by eye in most kitchens. They are a fat and a sweet acid, and the amount of each decides whether the plate tastes of one, the other, or neither.
The short answer
Start at four parts extra virgin olive oil to one part balsamic by volume, which is what this blog already publishes for a balsamic dressing, then move it: more oil when the vinegar is thin and sharp, far less when it is aged and syrupy. Whisk it for a salad, pour it unmixed for bread, and keep the rest capped and cold.
Balsamic and olive oil go into the same bowl in more kitchens than any other pairing, usually by eye. One is a fat and the other a sweet acid, and the amount of each decides whether the plate tastes of oil, of vinegar, or of nothing much.
The measure is a ratio, and where it starts depends on which balsamic you bought.
Why fat and acid need a ratio, not a splash
Oil coats and carries flavour; acid cuts through it. Pour either by eye and one of them wins. Balsamic makes it harder because it brings sugar as well as acid, so a heavy hand reads sweet before it reads sharp and the pepper in a good oil vanishes underneath.
It is a ratio by volume, and it counts only the oil and the vinegar.
Start at 3:1, then move it
Three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to one of balsamic is the place to begin: enough vinegar to taste, not enough to take the plate over. Move up as the balsamic gets sweeter and thicker, and down to 2:1 on leaves sturdy enough to fight back.
| Oil to balsamic | The bottle | What it suits |
|---|---|---|
| 3:1 | Aged and syrupy, used in drops | Ripe tomato, roast vegetables |
| 4:1 | Everyday vinegar of Modena | Mixed leaves, rocket, cheese |
| 5:1 | Thin and very sharp | Cabbage, kale, raw fennel |
| Poured, not mixed | Any of them | A dipping saucer |
The same arithmetic with lemon and other acids: extra virgin olive oil salad dressing.
A cheap balsamic and an aged one are not the same ingredient
Most supermarket bottles are balsamic vinegar of Modena: wine vinegar with concentrated grape must added, thin, dark and sharp. An aged bottle is grape must cooked down and held in casks for years, so it pours slowly, tastes of dried fruit rather than vinegar, and costs many times more.
- Everyday vinegar of Modena. Thin and sour, and the cheapest bottles are sharpest. Whisk it.
- Condimento or glaze. Thickened and sweetened, sometimes with sugar. Read the ingredients first.
- Aged and cask-matured. Syrupy, with little bite. Use drops, not spoons.
Sharper bottle, more oil. Sweeter and thicker, much less of it.
Dipping, dressing and a finishing drizzle
The same two bottles do three jobs and only one involves whisking. On a dipping saucer the two never combine, and the bread article covers that saucer in full. A dressing is held together so every leaf gets both. A drizzle is neither, and goes on last.
- Dipping. Pour the oil, drop the balsamic in, leave it alone — the saucer itself is olive oil for bread and dipping.
- Dressing. Shake with a little mustard so it holds, and dress at the table.
- Finishing. A spoon of oil and a few drops over plated food: tomatoes, grilled vegetables, strawberries.
What not to pair it with
Balsamic is dark, sweet and loud. It flattens anything delicate and doubles up on anything already sour, which is why it lands badly on half the plates it reaches. Steamed white fish and a salad already dressed with calamansi both lose from it; lemon and olive oil belong there.
- Delicate fish and seafood. Colour and sweetness both take over.
- Anything already sour. Lime, tamarind, yogurt: one acid is enough.
- The strongly infused oils. Balsamic argues with wild thyme or fennel and anise; keep it for the classic oil on the products page.
- A long marinade. The sugar darkens and catches before the meat is done.
Storing a dressing you have already mixed
Mix it in the jar you intend to keep it in. Oil, balsamic, salt and mustard hold about two weeks capped in the refrigerator, and a crushed garlic clove or chopped herbs cut that to a few days. Shake it back together before it meets a leaf.
The dressing thickens and clouds in the cold. That is normal and twenty minutes on the counter reverses it. The oil bottle itself needs no refrigerator.
The short version
Four parts extra virgin olive oil to one part balsamic, more oil if the bottle is sharp and less if it is syrupy. Whisk for salad, pour unmixed for bread.