A brief history of insalada caprese...
Whats so special about a simple salad of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil? Well, it does fly the Italian flag of red, white and green and each ingredient has a story to tell.
Take basil: this pungent, sweet herb is revered throughout Europe and Asia. It is used to prepare holy water in eastern orthodox churches and was a passport to the afterlife for ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Hindus. The Greeks called it kingly basilicon and associated it with both mourning and hatred; the Romans confused the word with basilisk a serpent or scorpion that killed with a single glance. By the middle ages people thought that bruised basil leaves could generate scorpions but also draw out their poison from a bite. Besides its culinary power we know its best use today is to keep mosquitoes away.
Real mozzarella is made from water buffalo milk in Lazio and Campania. Mozzare means to cut off; this is a soft cheese formed in large loops that are sliced away to form balls. The centre must be soft and smell of cool, fresh milk. Was it the Goths, the Normans or returning crusaders who introduced buffalo into Italy? Our thanks, whoever it was.
Finally the tomatoes. No-one who has tasted tomatoes raised on volcanic soil doubts that these are the most heavenly fruit on earth. Vesuvius devastates the landscape from time to time but she also imparts a mineral magic to anything grown around her. Whether you eat pomodori or pomodorini (the little ones) you are consuming history.
Put them together therefore
with reverence, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and then
eat with
joy and gusto.
From:
November 17, 2010
Insalata Caprese deceptively simple
Naples, Campania
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