Caprese Salad

Caprese salad is sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella layered with basil leaves and olive oil. Nothing in it is cooked and nothing much is added — the red, white and green do the work of the Italian flag, and the dish stands or falls entirely on the quality of its three main ingredients.

What it actually is

Ripe tomato, sliced or cut into wedges, is layered or fanned alongside thick slices of fresh mozzarella — ideally buffalo mozzarella di bufala, soft and milky rather than the firmer cow's-milk kind used for melting. Whole basil leaves are tucked between the layers, and the whole plate is finished with a drizzle of good olive oil, a little salt, and nothing else — no vinegar in the traditional version, since acid would fight the sweetness of the tomato.

Because it relies on so few ingredients, the dish is unusually exposed to the quality of each one — a caprese made with underripe tomato or rubbery, refrigerated mozzarella has nowhere to hide the shortfall.

How it's served

• At room temperature, never chilled straight from the fridge.
• As a starter or light course, often opening a meal rather than closing it.
• With good olive oil poured at the table, finished rather than dressed in the kitchen.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag dairy from the mozzarella.
• Name the mozzarella specifically — buffalo or cow's milk — since guests notice the difference.
• Say if the tomato is seasonal, since the dish depends on it being genuinely ripe.
• It's naturally vegetarian, a straightforward option to flag among heavier starters.