Watermelon Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Have you ever tried making your own balsamic reduction? It’s surprisingly easy and the first time I made it, I wondered why I haven’t done it before. Specially taking in consideration that the ones you can buy at the store may include cornstarch, excessive amount of sugar and food coloring. While if you make your own do only thing you need to do is, buy some good quality balsamic vinegar and have a lot of patience to reduce it to the right consistency. You can decide whether you want to add some sweetener or infuse with other flavors, like garlic or berries or herbs. For this one I kept it simple and simply reduced the balsamic vinegar down.

As you can see I’m quite excited about the balsamic reduction, but there is more to this salad than a balsamic reduction; fresh watermelon. For me I naturally imagine a hot summer day biting into a refreshing watermelon, so basically any day on the island of Curaçao, but summer in the Netherlands can also be nice. Depending on the location in Europe the availability might differ, but here it’s already in all the supermarkets and I went ahead and bought one as soon as they appeared.

The first time I had this salad was at a farm-to-table restaurant in Curaçao, Hofi Cas Cora. I loved the taste and combination of watermelon and herbs. This is my version of their salad with feta cheese, plenty of mint a few radishes and a drizzle of the balsamic reduction.