On the plate were intriguing slices of striped aspic created from lemon confit and aged balsamic vinegar.

The aged balsamic vinegar was a perfect accompaniment.

Add the splash of aged vinegar and taste for salt and pepper.

These stores also sell small 100-milliliter flasks of aged balsamic vinegar, the good stuff treasured by cooks, for $35 to $100.

But it ventures beyond the familiar formula into rabbit hot pot, poached monkfish cheeks and beets in aged vinegar.

Note:Balsamic Fini is low-acid aged vinegar available at fine food stores.

You can also sprinkle it with a very good aged vinegar.

In Japan, an aged vinegar is made from the grain.

The aged vinegar was described in centuries-old Italian archives as a tonic, a digestive, a condiment and a liquor.

In Japan, an aged vinegar also is made from Job's tears, a tall, grain-bearing, tropical plant.