IN BREVE
- Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI is also establishing itself in pastry, highlighting its versatility.
- Pastry professionals use it to balance sweetness and enrich desserts with aromatic complexity.
- Marco Pedron has experimented with this ingredient in various recipes, demonstrating its potential in pastry.
- The product finds application in doughs, gels, and reductions, contributing to creating balance in flavors.
- The initiative is part of a project co-financed by the European Union to promote Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI.
Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI expands its scope and finds space in pastry as well. An application that highlights the product’s versatility and its ability to adapt to different gastronomic languages, beyond traditional use in savory cuisine.
More and more pastry professionals are choosing Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI to balance the sugar component, enhance raw materials, and add aromatic complexity to desserts, leavened goods, and spoon desserts. Among the most recent experiences is that of pastry chef Marco Pedron, who has experimented with using the ingredient in various recipes.
“I fondly remember one of my first challenges in the lab over twenty years ago,” says Pedron. “A mille-feuille with raspberries and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI. It was perhaps by chance that this product was among my first preparations, but even then I understood how extraordinary Balsamic Vinegar of Modena could be in pastry. It allows you to explore flavor in depth, to enrich without covering, enhancing every ingredient. Rich in history and identity, it’s perfect from the home table to contemporary fine dining—it’s an iconic and winning product everywhere.”
TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS IN THE LAB
In the trials created by Marco Pedron, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI takes on a technical as well as aromatic role. It is incorporated directly into doughs, as in the brisée of the “Mille-Feuille with Vanilla Pastry Cream, Raspberries, and Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI,” or used in gels, reductions, and shortcrust pastries.
Its use also extends to sablée, where it helps balance the fat component. In pairing with chocolate, it creates a contrast that focuses on depth and persistence, without overlap. The stated goal is balance among ingredients and definition of the flavor profile.
THE PROMOTIONAL PROJECT
The experiments are part of a series of workshops conducted in collaboration with Congusto, within the project “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI: a unique product, from a unique land.” The initiative is co-financed by the European Union and aims to promote a Protected Geographical Indication recognized internationally.
The program is promoted by the Consortium for the Protection of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena with the goal of engaging chefs, pastry chefs, gelato makers, and food & beverage professionals. At its core is the desire to explore new applications of the product even in less conventional areas such as pastry.
The initiative confirms the identity role of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI and its ability to engage with contemporary gastronomy, while maintaining a connection to its territory of origin and production tradition.
