Classic Caprese Salad

Ok I love this salad but how do you cut mozzarella in a sexy way??

Like many others I add balsamic vinegar but I also add very thinly sliced red onions. Use tons of fresh basil. Heaven. If the tomatoes are not good, however, it's not the same. Living in a NYC apartment getting good tomatoes, even in the summer, is absolutely a stroke of luck. Sometimes they look great and still have no taste. Ah, for a garden grown tomato that has ripened on the vine.

The best Caprese salad is made from the best ingredients, right down to the salt and pepper. In the U.S. the best tomatoes you can find, heirloom or not, outside of your local tomato season, are usually the ones labeled "Product of Canada" or "Product of Mexico." The others are food-service grade tomatoes that provide some color but poor texture and little to no flavor.

As I learned from my old ethnic family growing up in the back in the 20s, Caprese salad should only contain beach-ripened NJ purple tomatoes picked EXACTLY six hours prior to making the dish, homemade water buffalo mozzarella (water buffalo must be between 22-46 hands tall at the shoulder and fed a vegetarian diet), and a LARGE splash of moonshine-fermented vinegar aged a MINIMUM of sixteen years. NOTHING ELSE. Tomatoes should be sliced into wedgies---this is VERY important:DDDD

I love CLASSIC Caprese -- I make mine with peaches, american cheese, fake balsamic vinegar (goes with everything by definition!), and white truffle oil. You gotta love the classics!

I also add a sprinkle of good balsamic vinegar to my caprese salad for a little zing!!

I'm a weirdo. I love fresh tomatoes but I find the seeds bitter with an off-putting texture. For me, I always take the time to remove their seeds. My family hates the waste, but I just gotta. Peace.

I add Balsamic Glaze over the entire salad!

Although I can easily get fresh basil leaves from my garden for salad caprese, I have taken to using a version of fresh-made pesto (basil leaves, garlic, salt and olive oil whizzed in a mini food processor) to sprinkle over the tomatoes and mozzarella. The flavor is more intense and the pesto has a better "mouth" feel than basil leaves, in my opinion.

I love that one can vary the taste of the salad by using alternative tomatoes, types of mozzarella and varied combining techniques. With or without the tomato juices from the cutting board, I find too much salt is a disadvantage by creating a wet sloppy presentation. That said, I almost always add a stripe of balsamic reduction just before serving to promote varied taste sensations while I consume this delightful salad.

Do not slice the cheese! Tear it into ribbons and chunks like Jamie Oliver. This adds much more fractal surface which soaks up more tomatoey juice, olive oil, flaky salt and pepper. Also use kampot pepper and Halen Mon salt. If you want to be really pretentious

There are many better tasting modern hybrid tomatoes than the so-called "heirloom" variety tomatoes. We grow a number of tomatoes--the critical issue is full ripeness as well as the variety. The University of Florida has produced a number of excellent hybrids recently that we grow in the mid-Hudson region of NY.

Delicious! I added one thing - I mixed some pesto with olive oil for a finishing drizzle on top. Yummmmm!

Heirlooms are great and really pretty but I find that for those of us working on a budget they can be a little expensive. I usually just go with Roma/plum tomatoes as a cheap but still tasty substitute for fresh tomato dishes like this or bruschetta. Hope this helps : )