Phew, it's Tuesday night and for some reason I'm already exhausted, not exactly sure why, I wasn't up late last night nor did I have a really tiring weekend, gosh, I feel like at 10:15, it's already past my bedtime. Maybe I should start partaking in the early bird special as well...
With my exhaustion, today's post is probably going to be somewhat short and sweet, with more elaboration tomorrow, but I felt too guilty not writing to you all! So without anymore of my endless ranting, let's get to the results of yesterday's Marriage Mondays. Oh wait, before I get there, I think it is important to state that these are my own personal opinions and you might not agree with me, that's totally fine. As we all know, all of this is about your tastes and what triggers your aha moment and unfortunately that certainly might not be the same as what triggers my aha moment.
The results for yesterday's Marriage Mondays are quite simple if you ask me -- Contestant number #1 wins! Why you may ask? Well I feel that with such a young cheese, it really is best to consume at room temperature as its original entity. When this cheese is heated in the form of Contestant number #2 or number #3, it goes from being a blond to a brunette -- a totally different sort of cheese with a distinct and less dynamic flavor profile. When warmed, this is a cheese that is easily blended with other ingredients, muting the fantastic nuances of fresh mozzarella. The reason we tend to see mozzarella combined in so many different baked/heated/broiled/ etc. dishes is because: not only it is a semi-soft cheese and is easily meltable; when warmed it adopts the best actress supporting role and enhances other ingredients and flavors but to enjoy this cheese's nuances, it needs to be eaten at room temperature.
So, as promised, I thought I would suggest an alternative salad pairing for mozzarella. The lusciousness of the cheese coupled with the juiciness of the tomatoes is what makes the classic Caprese. In past posts, I've talked about Mozzarella with Mangos as well but I think that there is another fruit route that is fantastic with the Mozzarella and that is pairing it with fresh blueberries and basil -- maintaining the freshness and juiciness of the fruit mixed with the creaminess of the cheese and the herbal greenness of the basil -- perfectly refreshing and delish. Such a simple combo but something you cannot go wrong with, great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert.
The wonderful thing to remember about fresh mozzarella is that it is such a sweet, delicate, unctuous, mouth watering cheese that you must eat it at room temperature, those qualities are so diminished when heated and combined with other ingredients -- for this cheese, I think rule of thumb should be: keep it simple.
No comments:
Post a Comment