Balsamic in Strawberries

ed note: This post was originally published July, 2005.  I'm on vacation, cut me a break.

I had been inspired by a recipe created by Chef Doc over at A Perfect Pear. His idea was stuffing a fresh strawberry with a tomato jam.  The presentation of this dish featured drops of a sweet balsamic, a traditional Italian condiment for strawberries that I've enjoyed during previous trips to Italy.  I have also become obsessed with gelees (see below) because they offer an intense blast of flavor without much labor.  They also seem perfect for summer fruit.

I played with the pairing of balsamic and strawberries by reducing balsamic to a sweet yet acidic syrup.  After combining the balsamic with gelatin, I refrigerated for a few hours to firm up.  I then created cubes and stuffed them into a hole I created in the side of the strawberry.  From a pure taste perspective, the combination and the texture contrasts really work. In retrospect, I would have made a cavity through the top straight to the bottom (like Chef Doc's recipe) and would have stuffed as much of the gelee as I could have fit in the berry.  The ratio of gelee to strawberry could have been enhanced in the above presentation.