Recipe: Balsamic "caviar" (pearls)

While the recipe I gave for the sour cream caviar can in many ways be adapted to almost any flavour, there are some exceptions - balsamic vinegar being one of them.  Balsamic caviar is very popular these days partly because it visually looks very much like true caviar.  Unless you are using a premium aged balsamic, you will probably want to reduce it a bit so the flavour mellows a bit.  As well, due to the acidity, the formula is ever so slightly altered so the pearls hold together better.  After reduction, a bit of honey adds some nice sweetness, but if you are a purist, you can use glucose (or some of the invert sugar we made a few posts ago).

You will need:

1L / 1qt              vegetable oil
500ml / 2C         balsamic vinegar
30ml / 2Tbs        honey / invert sugar
5 sheets              gelatin
3g                       agar agar
1                         squeeze bottle

Method:

 - put the oil in a tall cylinder and place in the freezer for a few hours
 - reduce the balsamic vinegar by 1/2
 - add the honey or invert sugar
 - let cool
 - make sure you have 250ml of base mixture - adjust if necessary by taking out some mix or adding water
 - whisk the agar agar into about 3/4 of the mix until smooth
 - bring up to a simmer
 - hydrate your gelatin
 - when the mixture simmers and thickens, take off the heat
 - melt in the gelatin
 - add back the last 1/4 of the mix (this just speeds up the cooling process)
 - cool slightly and pour into the squeeze bottle
 - while still warm and fluid, drop randomly into the cylinder of oil
 - when the bottle is empty, give the caviar a few minutes to set, then strain the caviar out of the oil
 - when the oil is completely drained off, store in a dry container and keep in the fridge