It’s getting hot outside, and Captain Create has traveled to Italy to learn the origin of a very easy-to-make, and very tasty, cold salad! Caprese Salad is said to have originated on this tiny Mediterranean island to satisfy all the visitors and their appetites, because Capri has been a destination for a long time… Even the Ancient Romans loved it, and in 27 AD, Tiberius came here to live.
While Captain Create doesn’t know if Tiberius ate Caprese Salad, he might have because its pretty good. Capri is located just off the western coast of Italy, and experiences hot summers and cool winters. The mountains are steep, and the ocean is beautiful, so residents spend time outside enjoying all there is to see and do when they are not at work or school.
Swimming in the ocean, rowing boats, fishing, and climbing mountains are all fun things to do if you live on Capri. Italians love to play soccer too! They have club teams, city leagues, and premier league teams that play internationally. All that running and playing on hot days means that they drink water to stay hydrated and eat lots of tasty Italian food to keep their energy up.
Summertime is when you find the best fresh tomatoes, so its also the perfect time to make a Caprese salad. Any tomatoes will do, whether you have giant heirloom tomatoes, tiny cherry tomatoes or even yellow or green ones. Fresh mozzarella is a big part of this salad, and you can find it in the refrigerated section, and its a soft cheese, not the harder string cheese type mozzarella. There are no rules or measurements needed to make this salad either; so its really easy! It’s usually served as a starter in Italy, which they call antipasto, and its not served as a side dish during a big meal. It can be eaten any time of day, like lunch or dinner, or even breakfast if you’d like!
What kind of Caprese Salad do you think you’d like to make?
