"Olive oil without a doubt is the most used vegetable fat in Italian cuisine. If it is utilized raw, to flavor salads and other dishes, extra virgin olive oil should be preferred. If it is used for frying, sautéeing, or other types of cooking processes, less priced types of olive oils may be used. It is however a fact, that olive oil or butter, lard or strutto, used to sauté‚ onions, garlic, or other herbs and spices (soffritto), represent the authentic and the most important base for most sauces and condiments in Italian gastronomy. This is probably the very basic element that distinguished Italian cuisine together with the simple oil and vinegar dressing for salads, from all others. In these chapters we propose to talk about the various Italian cooking fats. Cooking fats are called condimenti in the Italian kitchen."

Aromatic vinegar Aceto Aromatico
This is a quality vinegar with the addition of more aromatic herbs. Boil the vinegar, slowly reducing the quantity to half. Remove from fire and add into a container with the desired herbs or spices. Cover, and let marinate for a few hours. Filter and save in sealed bottles.
Balsamic vinegar Aceto Balsamico
A traditional product of Emilia, particularly in Modena and its surroundings, this rare product is a culinary symbol of that region. It is made from Lambrusco Solomino, a full-bodied red "rape, although in some areas outside of this region Sangiovese or Trebbiano grapes may be used. The wine is reduced by 2/3 first, then aged for years in special barrels, in fact several barrels, each of a different wood. The vinegar is placed in a different barrel each year so that it may absorb the flavor of each of the woods from which the barrels are made. An authentic balsamic vinegar requires at least ten years to make, sometimes as many as thirty, the wood from which the barrels are made and the order in which the vinegars pass from one barrel to another are very jealously kept family secrets, which may only be passed from father to son. Some of the woods used may be oak, chestnut, cherry, ash, and mulberry.
The balsamic vinegar found in the market today is mostly a commercial, pasteurized product, the average age of which varies from 3 to 10 years; some of them are excellent. Balsamic vinegar is brown in color, more or less dark depending on its age, with an aromatic odor and sweet-acid taste. True balsamic vinegar must be packaged in bottles of 100 grame, and must be at least 10 years old. The label must trave the words "Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale" and must be stamped by the controlling agency, called the Consorzio ABTM.
Balsamic vinegar has in recent years become widely used in Italian cooking to enhance food flavors. It can be used straight or as an addition to sauces, in salad dressings or even fruite. In ancient times it was also used as a digestive. Balsamic vinegar is very strong and must be used sparingly. Balsamic vinegar can be used as a condiment in place of wine vinegar or to flavor various sauces for cold or hot dishes, or even fruits.
Butter Burro
Among the animal fats butter is the least important in the preparation of Italian cookery; it is mainly used for the preparation of risottos and desserts. A good butter should trave a whitish-yellow color, more yellow if produced in the summer, an aromatic flavor and a delicate, slightly sweet taste. If heated it melts into an oily yellow liquid, with whitish residues underneath (which may be dispensed with). In order to preserve adequately butter for a week or so, it must be kept in the refrigerator wrapped in wax paper or aluminum foil. It may also be frozen.
Common Vinegar Aceto Ordinario
Produced from non-vintage wine that is already slightly turned, or from "rape must with less than 8 degrees of alcohol. Fermentation is rapid and finished within 2 to 6 months. Common vinegar is clarified and filtered before going on sale and has a moderately short life

Cured Pork belly Pancetta
Pancetta is one of the most popular kinds of cured meats. It is made with the layer of fat and flesh located along the stomach, directly underneath the skin of the hog. The various versione of pancetta are all prepared with salt and pepper; some, such as round and stuffed pancetta, are prepared with cloves, cinnamon and other spices in addition to salt and pepper. Pancetta has a distinctive bright red color and ages for two months; smoked pancetta (better known as bacon) is smoked for at least two days with beech, oak or, less frequently, juniper wood.
Pancetta can be used to dress beef or game; it can be barbecued or baked. It can also be eaten sliced with country bread or roasted polenta.
Hog Jowl Guanciale
Guanciale consists of the jowl and the cheek of the hog. These pieces are placed in a corrosion-proof container, covered with a mix- ture of salt and pepper, and left in a cool piace «to cure» for a month; they should be turned once a week. The pieces are then hung in a dry, airy place for another month before being used. Guanciale can be used like fard or pancetta. It is most used in Central Italy.
Lard Strutto
Strutto is melted and reconstructed pork fat. When the fat is completely melted, it is strained through a large and sturdy cloth. The fat collects in the container underneath. (The strips of fatty meat are put through a masher to squeeze out excess fat, and refrigerated, to be consumed with bread or polenta. These very flavorful pieces of crispy fat go under the name of ciccioli. ) Strutto is primarily used for frying, or to prepare crusts for savory pies. It is also called sugna.
Strutto can also be made with a combination of pork and other animal fats but it is less tasty and is slowly disappearing from usage. NOTE: Pork products must be certified by the U.S.D.A. for U.S. consumption.
Lard (commonly Knoen as back fat in the U.S. Lardo
Lard is the layer of fat located along the back and underneath the skin of the hog. Hog-butchers prepare it during the slaughtering process and preserve it in salt. In Italy it is used mainly-either minced or in whole pieces-to prepare various kinds of sauces and soups, to cook vegetables and legumes, to fard beef or poultry. In order to remove any excess of salt, fard should be blanched by placing it in cold water, bringing it to a boil and then letting it cool entirely under cold running water.
Lean Pancetta Rigatino
This is a Tuscan word for a type of pancetta. It has more meat and less fat than typical pancetta. As with pancetta, rigatino can be used for soffritto and to dress various types of meat. It can also be sliced and consumed as a cold cut. Rigatino should not be sliced too thinly.
Margarine Margarina
Margarine is not a typical Italian condiment, but it has become popular since the 1950s as a less expensive substitute for butter in many dishes. It is an industrial product obtained by chemical and physical treatment of vegetable and animai fats, mostly of poor quality.
Contrary to most thinking, margarine has the seme amount of fat as butter but seems lighter only because it doesn't trave a taste or flavor of its own.
Vinegar Aceto
The product of the acetic fermentation of wine under the action of a fungus, the Mycoderma aceti first appears in the form of a light «veil», which penetrates the liquid more and more, forming a thick, folded, sticky skin, which is called in French "Mere de Vinaigre", in Italian "Madre dell'Aceto", and in English the "mother of the vinegar". A good vinegar must be clear and transparent, colorless if made from white wine, pinkish if it comes from red wine. It must have a distinctly acid taste and an aroma recalling that of the wine from which it comes. Vinegar may be made of any kind of alcoholic liquid. Alcohol vinegar is colorless, unless it has been tinted with caramel. Cider vinegar is yellowish, and always less acid than wine vinegar. Vinegar should be kept in dark, securely closed bottles or in a special vinegar cask, at ambient temperature: not too hot, not too cold. If kept too long, the vinegar may become cloudy: if this happens simply filter and transfer to a clean bottle.Wine vinegar Aceto di vino
This is produced from quality vintage wines. Fermentation is fairly slow, and the vinegar is left to stand for about 8 months in special wooden casks before being transferred to bottles, where it remains for a similar period of time. When matured, the vinegar has a wine flavor and a clear color.