Balsamic vinegar is one of those pantry items we don't really question — like olive oil and garlic, you can find it in most home cooks' kitchens if you poke around. You're also almost guaranteed to find it in any supermarket, with prices that range from under $10 all the way up to hundreds of dollars at specialty stores.

That's a relatively new phenomenon in the story of balsamic vinegar, which started as a regional food made in northern Italy. It wasn't until the 1970s, when Giorgio DeLuca imported 150 cases of it for his SoHo store, Dean & DeLuca, that balsamic vinegar became a food trend beyond Italians already in the know. DeLuca, the son of Italian shop owners, was among the first to bring foods like Parmesan and olive oil beyond stores mostly selling to Italian-Americans to a larger audience.