Wajos Cranberry Crema. Balsamic from Modena and cranberry juice, tart-sweet and thick – the dark red crema for cheese boards and robust salads.
Wajos Cranberry Crema is a thick vinegar preparation made from 39.5 percent Aceto Balsamico di Modena P.G.I. and 11.5 percent cranberry juice from concentrate, with 3 percent acidity, 250 ml from Dohr on the Moselle. Not a fruit syrup, not a clear berry vinegar, but a crema with the dark balsamic note and the tart side of the cranberry. Vegan.
Cranberry Crema by Wajos is the crema for people who find the Fig-Date version too sweet. Both come from the same line, both are thick and dark, and both drizzle out of the bottle in ribbons. But where the date is caramel-round, the cranberry remains tart – it has that slightly bitter, dry touch you know from cranberry juice. That is precisely why it works with things where sweet cremas fail: ripe cheese, game, a salad with bacon. It is very popular with us, and often the second bottle chosen after the first crema.
Tart like cranberry, dark like balsamic, sweet in the background
The crema is deep red-brown and thick, but slightly lighter than the date varieties. At the start is the balsamic from Modena, which makes up the largest part of the bottle at just under 40 percent. It tastes dark and vinous, with the familiar balsamic sweetness from grape must. Then comes the cranberry with 11.5 percent juice – berry-forward, yet tart rather than saccharine, with a lingering finish. The 3 percent acidity holds everything together and remains subtle on the nose.
It is still sweet, however: 58 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, from sugar, glucose syrup, and the grape must in the balsamic. A teaspoon provides fruit, a tablespoon provides sweetness. This crema is not suitable for those looking for a tart, acid-forward berry vinegar for vinaigrettes. In that case, the Raspberry Balsam based on white wine vinegar with over 5 percent acidity is the right bottle. The crema contains natural flavoring and flavoring, as well as potassium metabisulfite as an antioxidant, i.e., sulfites. Both are stated on the label, and both should be mentioned.
On cheese, with game, in winter salads, and over goat cheese
The cheese board is its home. A few ribbons of it next to a ripe mountain cheese, a blue cheese, or a Camembert replace the chutney and figs. The tart berry holds its own against strong cheese, where fig and date would become too soft. On baked goat cheese with walnuts and lamb's lettuce, it serves as both the dressing and the honey.
When warm, it fits wherever lingonberries are usually served: a spoonful stirred into the sauce for venison, deer, duck, or goose just before serving. It adds fruit and color to red cabbage, and a sweet-tart counterpoint to roasted pumpkin or Brussels sprouts with bacon. On a winter salad with radicchio, orange, and nuts, it completely replaces the vinegar – just add olive oil and salt.
And it works with grilled meat: a few drops on a steak or on pulled pork in a bun, paired with cheddar. Over vanilla ice cream or a panna cotta, it becomes a dessert with a tart edge. For children, the tart note is often too much – in that case, the Blueberry Crema remains the easier choice.
The crema is not suitable for cooking over a long period, for pickling, or for anything that requires a clear vinegar. The sugar will caramelize, and the fruit will vanish. Always add it at the very end, and in ribbons rather than puddles.
Our tip: Lamb's lettuce, fried bacon bits, walnuts, one tablespoon of crema, and two tablespoons of good olive oil. That is the salad that is on our table from November to February, and the vinegar bottle stays in the cupboard.
A crema from a winegrowing family on the Moselle
Wajos is located in Dohr near Cochem on the Moselle, and the road there leads through a winery. The Oster family has been making wine in Ediger-Eller for 15 generations, and the letters of the company name stand for Walter Josef Oster, the founder of this wine dynasty. Walter Oster started with liqueurs in the 1980s alongside the winery. His son Peter Oster and Ulf Schwichtenberg built the Wajos brand from it starting in the 2000s – the first store opened in Trier in 2008, and today there are stores all over Germany and over 80 employees in Dohr.
It makes sense for a winegrowing family to become a vinegar manufactory. Anyone who understands wine understands wine vinegar, and balsamic from Modena consists essentially of exactly that: wine vinegar and boiled-down grape must. For the cremas, fruit is added as juice or syrup, and the whole mixture is adjusted to be thick and sweet. Wajos carries around 900 items, most of which are produced in Dohr and tested in their own laboratory. The cranberry variety is a bestseller in the Wajos kitchen range – and for us, it is the third most popular crema after Fig-Date and Mango.
The crema for cheese lovers and the Advent table
Cranberry Crema is the bottle for everyone who already has a sweet crema in the cupboard and now wants the tart side. Those who think of fig mustard when it comes to cheese and lingonberries when it comes to game will find both in one bottle here. As a gift, it is perfect for people who enjoy eating cheese – in a package with the Fig-Date Crema, you have covered both the sweet and the tart direction. You can find the entire crema range on our Wajos page.
Stored in a dry place away from light, the bottle lasts a long time; once opened, it stays good in the refrigerator for months. 250 milliliters are enough to last through the entire winter with one tablespoon per salad. It is not suitable for those who expect primarily sweetness from a crema – the cranberry remains tart, and that is intentional.
Balsamic from Modena and tart cranberry, thick-bodied from the Moselle – the crema for cheese, game, and winter salad that can do more than just be sweet.
