Wajos Date-Bacon Crema. Date syrup, Balsamic vinegar from Modena and bacon – the dark, sweet-smoky crema for lamb's lettuce, tapas platters, and roast gravy.

Wajos Date-Bacon Crema is a thick vinegar preparation made from 50 percent date syrup and 17.6 percent Aceto Balsamico di Modena P.G.I., with bacon extract and 3 percent acidity, 250 ml from Dohr on the Moselle. This is not a balsamic for cooking, not a vegan fruit crema, and not vinegar with bacon bits, but a crema for drizzling – as sweet as a date, as smoky as bacon, with a subtle acidity at the end.

Date-Bacon Crema from Wajos is bacon-wrapped dates, just in a bottle. It’s Friday night, the tapas platter is on the table: Manchego, olives, a few slices of chorizo, bread. Instead of wrapping dates in bacon and popping them in the oven, you drizzle the crema in thin threads over cheese and bread – and it tastes exactly like it. For us, it’s the savory choice among the cremas, the bottle for those who find fig and mango too mild. One spoonful is enough to make a salad taste like a Sunday.

Sweet first, then smoke and bacon, the acidity comes last

The crema is dark brown, thick, and pours slowly from the bottle. The date leads the way: date syrup makes up half of the bottle and provides a deep, caramel-like sweetness. Behind it comes the bacon – as an extract rather than bits – smoky and savory, so the sweetness remains robust. The balsamic from Modena with its three percent acidity finishes it off and keeps everything in balance: it tastes like a dressing, not a syrup.

To be honest: it contains 61 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters, from date syrup, beet syrup, and sugar. A tablespoon over a salad is the right dose; any more becomes too sweet. In addition to the bacon extract, the crema contains natural flavorings and, like every balsamic, sulfites. Because of the bacon, it is not suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

For anyone wanting a pure, sweet fruit crema, this is not the right choice – in that case, the Fig-Date Crema is the right bottle, with the same date base but bacon-free. Those expecting the tart, woody tone of a long-aged balsamic will search in vain here: the crema is a preparation, and the fruit dictates the taste.

Over lamb's lettuce with feta, for the tapas platter, and in dark sauces

The salad it was made for is lamb's lettuce with feta. Leaves, olive oil, salt, crumbled feta on top, and the crema drizzled over it – no need for extra vinegar or honey. With roasted walnuts and a few bacon cubes from the pan, it turns into a dinner. It also pairs well with potato salad with bacon and onions, arugula with pear and blue cheese, or a lukewarm lentil salad.

On a tapas platter, it takes on the role of chutney: a few drops on Manchego, on goat cheese, or on bread with cream cheese. For baked Camembert, it replaces the dollop of cranberry sauce, with more depth. And on a slice of buttered bread with mountain cheese, it’s exactly what was missing in the evening.

When warm, it unfolds in dark sauces: a tablespoon in the gravy for roast pork, beef, game, or in red cabbage just before serving. It glazes Brussels sprouts, carrots, or pumpkin from the oven if you add it in the last few minutes. In a lentil stew or goulash soup, a spoonful rounds off the acidity, and the date remains undetected – only the sauce is suddenly better.

The crema is not suitable for pickling, for cucumber salad, or anywhere a clear, acidity-forward vinegar is needed. It also doesn't tolerate long cooking times well: the sugar caramelizes and the aroma is lost. Always add it at the end so the fruitiness remains.

Our tip: Two tablespoons of Date-Bacon Crema, three tablespoons of Roasted Onion Infused Oil, salt, and pepper – the perfect dressing for the lukewarm potato salad with bacon that we bring to grill parties.

A crema from a house that started with wine

The crema comes from Dohr near Cochem on the Moselle, where Wajos produces most of its approximately 900 items itself. The name is an abbreviation: Walter Josef Oster, founder of a winemaking family in Ediger-Eller that has been making wine for 15 generations. In the 1980s, he set up a liqueur manufactory next to the winery, and from the 2000s, his son Peter Oster and his business partner Ulf Schwichtenberg turned this into the Wajos brand.

Anyone who makes wine knows vinegar – it is the other side of the same grape. The cremas at Wajos were developed from this: fruit vinegar preparations with a balsamic base, thick-bodied, in over a dozen varieties, and this one is the variety with the savory note. Today, over 80 people work in Dohr, the first own store opened in 2008 in Trier, and there are now Wajos shops all over Germany. An in-house laboratory tests the products before they are bottled – a family business that prefers to "work in a controlled, smaller way" rather than doing everything that would be possible.

The crema for anyone who only likes sweetness with a savory edge

The Date-Bacon Crema is the second bottle you’ll want once you already have a Wajos crema on your shelf. It is the savory variation for people who like Fig-Date but want something bolder for their cheese. If you prefer sour and fruity over sweet and smoky, you are better off with the Cranberry Crema. You can find all cremas on our Wajos page.

As a gift, it is perfect for people who host tapas nights or build cheese platters – a bottle that stays on the table and, once opened, keeps for months when stored in a cool, dark place. 250 ml will last through the winter at one spoonful per salad. It is not suitable for vegetarians, vegans, or anyone looking for a low-sugar dressing.

Date, balsamic from Modena, and a touch of bacon – the savory crema from the Moselle for lamb's lettuce, cheese, and your Sunday roast.