CAPRESE

I think I made the last Caprese around 5 years ago. Why? Now I found great sweet tomatoes from Sicily called “Dattarini”, before the quality was not top. So, keep your eyes open for sweet little tomatoes, mozzarella di buffalo, basil, aceto balsamico and olive oil. All has to be top products. BTW, I pay around 20-25 Euro for olive oil and aceto balsamico each.

http://www.wineberserkers.com/content/?p=2487


ENJOY,
Martin

Salt too, right?

Eric,

I never mention salt&pepper in my recipes or ingredients list. WHY? Because on every dish has to be salt&pepper. BTW, I use the british Maldon salt, as the flakes have a wonderful feeling, such crisp.


Alles Gute,
martin

Do you have a recipe for toast?

George

I was thinking the same thing.
Martin with all due respect this is pretty basic and a recipe seems unnecessary.

That´s true! BUT I enjoyed this simple&well-known dish so much. Maybe also some other people forgot this dish like me.

What a great dish it is!

And, some different ways to assemble it.

We grow different kinds of tomatoes and different kinds of basil and get different local olive oils from Lucero. For balsamic, we vary.

Mmmmm.

Wine to go with it depends on what the combo of the day seems to dictate.

We never use balsamic vinegar on our caprese. I have never had one in Italy that included it and if the tomatoes are top notch and have a great acid/sweetness balance, there is no need for the extra. I think it distracts from the purity and shining flavors of the dish.

I also don’t use vinegar on my salad.
Just grassy, peppery olive oil and salt

Why am I unsurprised we are on the same page, Suzanne?

I love thinly sliced lemon cucumbers on my tomatoes, when available. Sometimes red onions as well. Good excuse to bust out the mandolin.

Thanks for the inspiration.

I’m in the camp that likes a touch of good quality traditional balsamic vinegar on the caprese.

Tonight with burrata, aged balsamic, and grilled rosemary bread.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/08/how-to-not-f*ck-up-a-caprese-salad.html
no f*cking vinegar. Kenji has spoken

Meh, Kenji was having an off day. I like the acidity that a bit of balsamic provides.

And Chris, I sometimes make caprese salads with burrata too…really yummy.

a good tomato has all the acid you need and I have nothing against using burrata.
try it with high quality ingredients and you can skip the balsamic.

I like the extra tang that balsamic brings to the dish.

I’ve been buying PHENOMENAL grape tomatoes at the farmer’s market – all different sizes and colors. They seem a touch low on acid (but sweet and delicious) and the splash of balsamic brightens the dish.

You also eat turkey bacon…that kind of eliminates any authority you may think you have on the subject. Gracias for playing though.

What balsamic adds, which is undesirable, is sweetness. If I found my tomatoes weren’t acidic enough, it wouldn’t be balsamic I chose to add.