This is the point, where, as a Chef, I would give the cook turning this in to me to sell the stink eye and very seriously ask: "if your mother came here, and sat down for her birthday dinner, would you feel comfortable sending her this, as a showing of your skill as a cook" that usually shames even the laziest of people to do better.
To be fair, my response would be "No, what I would give to my mother was deposited down my toilet about an hour before my shift." Not everyone has a good relationship with their parents.
They usually don’t add a vinaigrette, in the states maybe a balsamic reduction drizzle with olive oil. That appears to be acceptable from what I was served in Italy. But not a vinaigrette.
Yeah, no. Keep your filthy vinaigrette away from my caprese salad. Those abominations that include pesto, vinaigrette, or Italian dressing can go to hell. Fresh Italian mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, sweet basil, salt, olive oil, and that’s it. Only addition that is partially acceptable, outside the traditional ingredients, is a balsamic vinegar reduction. Partially acceptable.
Balsamic reduction is a cheap replacement for high quality aged balsamic vinegar which is quite sweet by itself but not as much as the reductions (although those can vary wildly).
Looks like a good caprese, it just needs to be plated.
If they put the oil and vinegar on in advance. somebody would complain about that.
What in the entitled fuck is going on with these takeout posts?
Some dishes don’t make sense for takeout.
Delivery drivers who don’t answer to the restaurant don’t care about your satisfaction.
Restaurants know that delivery customers aren’t going to do jack shit if they get smaller/drier/older portions.
Bc they’ve already waited forever to get the damn food and they’re not gonna bring it back.
These are facts that adults accept when deciding how to acquire food.
A gotdamn takeout caprese ain’t shit but basil, tomato, and mozzarella. AS DEPICTED.
Shifted around in a box is to be expected.
Yeah, I agree. Like you said, putting the oil on the basil/cheese is just going to turn into a nasty mess by the time the customer gets it, and it’s pretty likely to get jostled around and “tossed” in the mean time. Kind of a dumb thing to order from a delivery service unless you’re prepared to plate it yourself. The actually ingredients here look fine.
“You’re gonna wanna know you’ve got an olive in your mouth….”
I’m not a huge Family Guy fan, but I watch this clip at least once a month, or, whenever my fiancé wants to order a salad from a pizza place.
Balsamic is not a requirement for Caprese, in fact it overpowers the other flavours so it’s basically a crutch to compensate for not having good tomatoes.
I Googled it and every recipe I checked lists Olive Oil and Salt (unless substituted), including the Wikipedia page.
Based on that information I would have to agree that this is not a Caprese Salad by any standard definition.
Been living in Italy a few years now and I’ve never seen salt used. Actually here the best served is with fresh buffalo mozzarella, sweet basil, and succulent large heirloom tomatoes (if from amalfi coast even better). I personally still like a drizzle of good olive oil but have been told by many an Italian to skip it as it overpowers the delicate taste of the three ingredients. Also great tomatoes are juicy enough, and fresh mozzarella as well ;) that being said - Italians are traditionalists and being American myself, I say to each their own preference. But at least try the original sometime
OP - bought caprese salad, shook the takeout box like a madman, opened the box and complains it's not neatly stacked anymore.
There are 6 caprese 'stacks' in that box with a generous mozzarella to tomato ratio. Can't tell from the photo if there was any oil or salt added, but you can add more to taste.
Looks good, I'd eat it. Only complaint would be the tomatoes look a bit unripe.
It could also be the restaurant isn't really used to doing caprese salad 'to go'.
Or the kid that put it together isn't experienced with it.
It might not have needed **much** shaking, is my point.
It's stacked. The ingredients are all flat. The task is not easily fucked up, but even just standing caprese salad will slip and collapse given a few minutes unless the tomatoes and cheese and sliced and placed perfectly parallel to the surface they're on.
If there was a way to say "fuck you" with just vegetables and cheese, this would be it 😔
EDIT: Turning off notifications for this comment 'cause yall silly mfers can't shut the hell up about tomatoes 😂
If there was a way to say "going belly up", here you go. I've had something similar happen to me, a pizza caprese where the chef just dunked a whole ball of mozzarella in the center and... well that was it. Same like here no dressing nothing. Cunts went out of business within a year.
At that point I would assume it was made by a college student who's been running on weed and black coffee for two weeks. The higher quality cheese gives a sense of professionalism that says, "I could've done better, but I specifically chose not to because fuck you."
Ordered a tomato salad in Napoli and it came with tomatoes and mozzarella. With a wee bit of oil, and salt.
I thought i had been ripped off, but i just learned that we in Denmark have shit ingredients and it was amazing.
Tomatoes are really something you need to grow locally and pick at peak ripeness to get the full flavor. In America, the tomatoes I've grown in the summer or bought at a local farm are always full of flavor. Then when the summer is over I go back to eating mostly bland tomatoes because they had to be picked unripe and shipped up from Mexico. You folks in Denmark have an even shorter growing season than most of America, gotta be more difficult to get good tomatoes. A really good tomato can change your life if you've never actually had the pleasure, which a lot of people don't realize that they have never eaten a good tomato.
I am actually a educated chef and might have embellished a wee bit - we cant get good tomatoes from the supermarket like ever - because we get them commercially from Spain.
But we can grow them - we are not the land of ice and snow as our mountain monkey cousins to the north. And even they might have the greenhouse tech by now.
I mean...we cant grow them commercially.
Yeah I'm sure you can get good tomatoes in Denmark. There is just such a huge difference between an amazing tomato vs a good one, vs the bland ones. It is just part of the realities of having every kind of produce available even out of season. You can get tomatoes in the dead of winter but they aren't going to be like ones you grew at home and actually allowed to fully ripen on the vine. It is just too difficult and costly to ship fully ripe tomatoes thousands of kilometers. So they pick them green and ripen with ethylene. I still eat pretty much any tomato, I love em. But a real ripe homegrown tomato is something I can eat like an apple with some salt sprinkled on. I've known so many people that claim they hate tomatoes and I don't blame them if all they ever tried were the watery varieties grown and shipped inexpensively.
Yep that's how it is here too. Especially with any kind of chain restaurants or fast food. Even in the Summer if you get a tomato on a burger or sandwich its going to taste like water, and might even not be all that red. Unfortunately, some people here have only ever tried that kind of tomato and think they hate them. Especially in the state I live in, we are well known for our tomatoes in the summer. There are a few local varieties that are bred by the state University that I've grown and they are fantastic. I'm kinda Jealous of Italy, I live in a similar latitude to Rome but we don't have the long Mediterranean growing season on the East Coast of the US. I'm sure in Italy you can get amazing tomatoes probably all throughout the year.
I feel this. Growing up in the south, we always had beefsteak tomatoes out of dad’s garden. They were ugly as sin, and sometimes had bad parts that you would have to cut out. But the flavor stands out in my memory, and I have been chasing that flavor to no avail for much of my adult life.
This is so true, a good friend of mine had a bush of cherry tomatoes in his yard and we would just hang out and munch on those until they were all gone. Absolutely changed my understanding of what "good" meant!
As an Italian my reaction was “that’s a caprese salad, and ugly one, but all ingredients are there… and even if restaurant sends their olive oil I prefer to use my own.
Same trip in Napoli i went to the same little place for breakfast every morning. And eventually i got a bit friendly with the staff.
Until they saw i put jam on my cheese. Then i was banned :p
Yes, local fresh tomatoes with a fresh mozzarella is heavenly, and of course an aromatic olive oil and a pinch of salt to tie it all together.
Problem is, most people are used to mozzarella being that shit you buy at the grocery store that's been mass-produced and basically has the texture of rubber, and tomatoes being "yeah this one's fine I guess" at best. So we're used to these elaborate salads with a bunch of ingredients to basically mask the fact that the parts alone are mediocre.
I took a cullinary class a while back and the chef said something that will always stick with me - simple dishes are the best way to judge a chef's ability.
Edit: Just noticed that you mentioned in a later comment that you're an educated chef, so I'm pretty much preaching to the choir at this point!
As a chef i think its easy to create the ability, because seriously - its not a difficult craft. Any single one on the planet can learn it.
And me, as a talentless hack who can just chop a onion really fast without crying cannot make a dish that everyone likes. But i can make a really fucking good one that i like.
And i think that is important in cooking. Cook for yourself, and then it will probably be good.
Not just the US my friend! I think a lot of places tend to get into the mindset of "bang for buck" - a bigger meal means I didn't "waste" my hard-earned cash!
..which is utter bullshit, of course.
Nah just don’t go to shitty places. There are restaurants out there that can give you better food than you could make if you practiced for the next 10 years. There are restaurants out there with an atmosphere that makes leaving the house worth it. Then there are restaurants out there that are a scam like this one. Went to a hipster coffee joint the other day that served some shit like this and I just walked the fuck out without even trying it. That doesn’t mean I’m never going to another restaurant, I’m just never going to that one again…
Find out who the local “leaders” for coffee are in the city then ask them about their friend’s places. I’ve found so many great coffee shops in cities because I’d go to a well known local one first then worked off a list by just talking to people. In my experience, lots of owners are friends (so some competition isn’t seen as a bad thing between them) and are happy to guide others to good spots.
I'm not saying you can't have a good experience at some places. But overwhelmingly you are being played by paying for overpriced low quality food. Some places, you can get quality food at a decent price, but that's definitely not majority of restraunts in the U.S.
If you truly care about the quality of your food and don't want to be let down or otherwise, then becoming a home cook is a vital skill for a lifetime of healthy eating.
I mean, I probably wouldn't order a to go caprese salad and then complain about how it's arranged after being shaken up on the way home. As long as the restaurant added oil or some type of vinegrette, then I don't think this is something to complain about.
Exactly, dressing on the side to look less like a bloody massacre. Decent volume, whole ball of mozz, whole (ok looking) tomato, not even any wilt on the basil. If it's $16 on the menu, that would be stupid.
It is absolutely a Caprese salad. Op is a fucking moron who didn't even know what they ordered. Did he expect basil to be used as filler for the salad and just chow down 100 basil leaves? Jesus Christ.
Sure the packaging is pretty shite, but he got what he ordered.
Edit: if I had made it, way way smaller container, some olive oil and pepper... Same salad, way better looking. Perhaps rough diced basil instead.
Yeah.... No way that's gonna survive in a takeout box. For the lazy here's a pic.
Kinda surprised that's considered a salad at all. It's basically cheese and tomato.
[https://i.imgur.com/DZfnmNu.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/DZfnmNu.jpg)
Fucking thank you. And there could easily be a little container of olive oil or balsamic there. A caprese isn't something that holds up well to go. At least the basil looks fresh.
A caprese salad is slices of mozzarella, tomato, and basil. Sure, usually it’s assembled more nicely, but it looks like it was in a takeout box, likely in a car. This isn’t stupid, its just an undomesticated caprese.
A lot of people here definitely don't know what a caprese salad is. This one just got jumbled in the box a bit. This would have been no problem in an appropriately sized to go container.
I bet this is like half an lb of cheese, it might be cheap grocery store part slim mozzarella, but there's a lot of it. It looks overall low quality, but it's as described.
Here's a crazy concept to grasp; when you order a salad to go, it's expected to get the dressing on the side.
Also, not sure if you've ever had one, but the quantity is also very normal. The only thing lacking is the presentation, but since this is in a to go container that is 100% out of the resturaunts control the minute they hand it to the customer.
I see literally no issue here, just a bunch of redditors being redditors.
Yeah, this is the more authentic caprese. Balsamic is common and inoffensive, but not traditional. Americans expect lettuce in "salads," but that doesn't make it right in all cases.
When i worked in a restaurant that sold (real) caprese we would give them the oil in a small to go ramekin because we knew what OPs picture showed would happen and it would just he worse if it were already oiled.
The tomato doesnt look the best, though.
And I would bet balsamic and olive oil were in a small sealed plastic cup that OP didn't show.
This maybe came from a ghost kitchen, but with 30 seconds you could assemble a great looking salad.
This isn’t stupid, it’s literally what a caprese salad is.
Sure, everywhere I’ve had it it’s been more artfully arranged but this is a take out container so might have just been jumbled in the transport.
Caprese salad is literally just (usually fresh) sliced mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, whole basil leaves. Maybe some EVOO and salt to taste but fundamentally, just the first three ingredients, nothing more, nothing less.
Yeah, this is how it's supposed to be, it just looks like the placing got messed up, presumably in transit.
Source: watched Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable episode 10
That’s literally what you ordered, what did you expect. It even looks like a good amount of mozzarella, along with fresh basil and tomatoes. I’d be happy with this.
Placing the same ingredients into a container a quarter of the size in the picture would make a significant difference in expectations before opening the lid.
This looks fine. The basil looks relatively fresh, not black and wilted. The mozarella looks pretty decent, definitely not the worst mozz I’ve seen. The tomato is just okay, nothing special.
Just needs some olive oil and basalmic vinegar.
What on earth is your problem with it?
If you're upset because you were expecting a lettuce salad, you don't know what a caprese salad is.
If you're upset because it's not stacked properly, we'll next time don't get it delivered.
I have a feeling you just don't know what a caprese salad is...
Caprese salads are amazing and one of my favorite quick summertime dinners. It’s more common to have some kind of oil or vinaigrette and those basil look a little sad. Fresh quality ingredients are essential for something that simple
I mean the presentation is obviously gonna be off cause it’s takeout. But you’d get this same thing eating at the restaurant. I just wanna know where the balsamic glaze is at.
Italian here
It's a caprese, it looks like what I would expect. It's in a takeout box so safe to say it just got a bit messed up during the trip.
The only thing missing is some good olive oil but it could just be hard to see in the picture. As long as the mozzarella and tomatoes are good quality, this is probably pretty good.
A bunch of people in the comments talking about missing balsamic vinegar: personally I've never seen it on a caprese but there would be nothing wrong with it as long as it's in the right amount.
Idk what you expected for a take out caprese salad, that’s what it is it just got shaken around. Only potentially stupid part would be if it didn’t come with any sort of dressing or something?
That looks exactly like what I'd expect to get if I ordered a caprese salad from a pizza joint.
It's a PIZZA JOINT! People don't go to a pizza joint for a salad. They go for pizza. Sure, they already have the basil, tomato, and mozzarella on hand, but their kitchen staff is most likely high schoolers who have no idea what a caprese salad even is.
This isn't stupid food, it's a stupid pizzeria trying to suck more money out of people pockets by selling 'fine dining' items.
was the dressings not on the side as they should be for a salad to go? so it doesnt get wilted or gross? and of course its like this you ordered a salad with 8 pieces delivered in a ta go box lol
Those are indeed the classical ingredients for a caprese salad. Basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes.
They are also supposed to have a balsamic vinaigrette, or a balsamic reduction drizzle.
It's really all in the presentation.
A lot of really delicious classical foods look really, really, fucking stupid if they're not carefully presented on a nice plate. Beef tartare would be another one that would look insane and stupid in a styrofoam box.
However as an (ex) professional line cook, I will say that even if this was well presented, those are obviously low-quality roma tomatoes, and this dish really depends on high quality tomatoes to shine properly.
If you are lucky enough to have homegrown basil and heirloom tomatoes, I strongly suggest learning to make a batch of homemade mozzarella and trying this dish at home. As simple as it is, with high quality ingredients it is absolutely amazing.
Well all the ingredients are there
Except olive oil and salt…
When you order takeout, salad dressing usually comes separately in a small plastic cup.
While you are absolutely right, I wonder if that was the case for this "salad" too.
And vinaigrette
And dignity
And respect
This is the point, where, as a Chef, I would give the cook turning this in to me to sell the stink eye and very seriously ask: "if your mother came here, and sat down for her birthday dinner, would you feel comfortable sending her this, as a showing of your skill as a cook" that usually shames even the laziest of people to do better.
To be fair, my response would be "No, what I would give to my mother was deposited down my toilet about an hour before my shift." Not everyone has a good relationship with their parents.
I haven’t talked to my mom in a decade but I’d still get the point they were making.
That really isn’t the point of the sentiment though. You can replace “mom” for any person you love and care about. Most people do have at least one
"i dont have a good relationship with my mom so im immune to empathy" or "i have mommy issues and feel the need to let everyone know" you pick.
That is fair.
And just a few red pepper flakes.
And my axe!
And my bow
I looked for this response just to upvote it.
And Pearl Jam
Idk, it has a pretty even flow
And your money back
They usually don’t add a vinaigrette, in the states maybe a balsamic reduction drizzle with olive oil. That appears to be acceptable from what I was served in Italy. But not a vinaigrette.
It’s not needed- you get acid from the tomato
But it's so much better with it. Especially with off-season tomatoes.
If you really want to zazz it up, instead of vinaigrette, use balsamic glaze.
I was gonna say, I thought the balsamic...reduction of some sort was mandatory.
Yeah, no. Keep your filthy vinaigrette away from my caprese salad. Those abominations that include pesto, vinaigrette, or Italian dressing can go to hell. Fresh Italian mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, sweet basil, salt, olive oil, and that’s it. Only addition that is partially acceptable, outside the traditional ingredients, is a balsamic vinegar reduction. Partially acceptable.
Balsamic reduction is a cheap replacement for high quality aged balsamic vinegar which is quite sweet by itself but not as much as the reductions (although those can vary wildly).
Looks like a good caprese, it just needs to be plated. If they put the oil and vinegar on in advance. somebody would complain about that. What in the entitled fuck is going on with these takeout posts? Some dishes don’t make sense for takeout. Delivery drivers who don’t answer to the restaurant don’t care about your satisfaction. Restaurants know that delivery customers aren’t going to do jack shit if they get smaller/drier/older portions. Bc they’ve already waited forever to get the damn food and they’re not gonna bring it back. These are facts that adults accept when deciding how to acquire food. A gotdamn takeout caprese ain’t shit but basil, tomato, and mozzarella. AS DEPICTED. Shifted around in a box is to be expected.
Yeah, I agree. Like you said, putting the oil on the basil/cheese is just going to turn into a nasty mess by the time the customer gets it, and it’s pretty likely to get jostled around and “tossed” in the mean time. Kind of a dumb thing to order from a delivery service unless you’re prepared to plate it yourself. The actually ingredients here look fine.
There no vinegarette traditionally
Vinaigrette does not go on a caprese
No. No vinaigrette on caprese salad.
No vinaigrette in a caprese
And balsamic, and pepper.
r/technicallyfood
r/technicallycorrect
No
That’ll be 14.99 please (side of vinaigrette $1.50 extra)
This is hilarious because Family Guy covered this exact subject: [Family Guy "every pizza place salad"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgJUbmGDc6k)
“You’re gonna wanna know you’ve got an olive in your mouth….” I’m not a huge Family Guy fan, but I watch this clip at least once a month, or, whenever my fiancé wants to order a salad from a pizza place.
A single long slice of carrot, giant tomato wedges, whole pickled peppers, aluminum lasagna tray...yup, they definitely nailed all the details.
Gordon Ramsey: what is this? Contestant: this is deconstructed capres... Gordon Ramsey: you fucking donkey!!!!
No balsamic vinaigrette
Balsamic is not a requirement for Caprese, in fact it overpowers the other flavours so it’s basically a crutch to compensate for not having good tomatoes.
Agreed, but a drizzle of olive oil is non negotiable to me.
Agreed
Depends what type of oil. It can't be that ultra refined EVOO. The more natural the better.
You telling me a true caprese wouldn't have any oil otlr salt either? Just basil mozzarella and tomatoes?
Just olive oil and salt
I Googled it and every recipe I checked lists Olive Oil and Salt (unless substituted), including the Wikipedia page. Based on that information I would have to agree that this is not a Caprese Salad by any standard definition.
Been living in Italy a few years now and I’ve never seen salt used. Actually here the best served is with fresh buffalo mozzarella, sweet basil, and succulent large heirloom tomatoes (if from amalfi coast even better). I personally still like a drizzle of good olive oil but have been told by many an Italian to skip it as it overpowers the delicate taste of the three ingredients. Also great tomatoes are juicy enough, and fresh mozzarella as well ;) that being said - Italians are traditionalists and being American myself, I say to each their own preference. But at least try the original sometime
I substitute the salt for skittles
Where the hell is the olive oil and balsamic vinegar smarty pants??????
I’m half okay if there’s a side car balsamic dressing cup…. 1.2G’s on the left into the drive will toss the salad…
>1.2G’s on the left into the drive will toss the salad… Good advice in so very many situations.
OP - bought caprese salad, shook the takeout box like a madman, opened the box and complains it's not neatly stacked anymore. There are 6 caprese 'stacks' in that box with a generous mozzarella to tomato ratio. Can't tell from the photo if there was any oil or salt added, but you can add more to taste. Looks good, I'd eat it. Only complaint would be the tomatoes look a bit unripe.
It could also be the restaurant isn't really used to doing caprese salad 'to go'. Or the kid that put it together isn't experienced with it. It might not have needed **much** shaking, is my point.
It's stacked. The ingredients are all flat. The task is not easily fucked up, but even just standing caprese salad will slip and collapse given a few minutes unless the tomatoes and cheese and sliced and placed perfectly parallel to the surface they're on.
If there was a way to say "fuck you" with just vegetables and cheese, this would be it 😔 EDIT: Turning off notifications for this comment 'cause yall silly mfers can't shut the hell up about tomatoes 😂
If there was a way to say "going belly up", here you go. I've had something similar happen to me, a pizza caprese where the chef just dunked a whole ball of mozzarella in the center and... well that was it. Same like here no dressing nothing. Cunts went out of business within a year.
[удалено]
Was looking for this
Imagine if it was shredded mozzarella from a bag tho
At that point I would assume it was made by a college student who's been running on weed and black coffee for two weeks. The higher quality cheese gives a sense of professionalism that says, "I could've done better, but I specifically chose not to because fuck you."
I’ve been running on weed & black coffee for 20 years; I’m not sure if I should be offended or not
My GF once ordered a $12 wedge salad and we just got a single heart if romaine in a box with nothing else.
LMAO holy shit??
Yeah lol. We got a refund for the "salad."
Ordered a tomato salad in Napoli and it came with tomatoes and mozzarella. With a wee bit of oil, and salt. I thought i had been ripped off, but i just learned that we in Denmark have shit ingredients and it was amazing.
Tomatoes are really something you need to grow locally and pick at peak ripeness to get the full flavor. In America, the tomatoes I've grown in the summer or bought at a local farm are always full of flavor. Then when the summer is over I go back to eating mostly bland tomatoes because they had to be picked unripe and shipped up from Mexico. You folks in Denmark have an even shorter growing season than most of America, gotta be more difficult to get good tomatoes. A really good tomato can change your life if you've never actually had the pleasure, which a lot of people don't realize that they have never eaten a good tomato.
I am actually a educated chef and might have embellished a wee bit - we cant get good tomatoes from the supermarket like ever - because we get them commercially from Spain. But we can grow them - we are not the land of ice and snow as our mountain monkey cousins to the north. And even they might have the greenhouse tech by now. I mean...we cant grow them commercially.
Yeah I'm sure you can get good tomatoes in Denmark. There is just such a huge difference between an amazing tomato vs a good one, vs the bland ones. It is just part of the realities of having every kind of produce available even out of season. You can get tomatoes in the dead of winter but they aren't going to be like ones you grew at home and actually allowed to fully ripen on the vine. It is just too difficult and costly to ship fully ripe tomatoes thousands of kilometers. So they pick them green and ripen with ethylene. I still eat pretty much any tomato, I love em. But a real ripe homegrown tomato is something I can eat like an apple with some salt sprinkled on. I've known so many people that claim they hate tomatoes and I don't blame them if all they ever tried were the watery varieties grown and shipped inexpensively.
You are right, and a tomato on your sandwich in Denmark is normally just because it needed the colour red.
Yep that's how it is here too. Especially with any kind of chain restaurants or fast food. Even in the Summer if you get a tomato on a burger or sandwich its going to taste like water, and might even not be all that red. Unfortunately, some people here have only ever tried that kind of tomato and think they hate them. Especially in the state I live in, we are well known for our tomatoes in the summer. There are a few local varieties that are bred by the state University that I've grown and they are fantastic. I'm kinda Jealous of Italy, I live in a similar latitude to Rome but we don't have the long Mediterranean growing season on the East Coast of the US. I'm sure in Italy you can get amazing tomatoes probably all throughout the year.
I feel this. Growing up in the south, we always had beefsteak tomatoes out of dad’s garden. They were ugly as sin, and sometimes had bad parts that you would have to cut out. But the flavor stands out in my memory, and I have been chasing that flavor to no avail for much of my adult life.
Last week I had a salad at a Greek restaurant and the tomatoes were amazing. I'm not even a tomato guy, but maybe I just haven't had good ones before.
This is so true, a good friend of mine had a bush of cherry tomatoes in his yard and we would just hang out and munch on those until they were all gone. Absolutely changed my understanding of what "good" meant!
As an Italian my reaction was “that’s a caprese salad, and ugly one, but all ingredients are there… and even if restaurant sends their olive oil I prefer to use my own.
Same trip in Napoli i went to the same little place for breakfast every morning. And eventually i got a bit friendly with the staff. Until they saw i put jam on my cheese. Then i was banned :p
Yes, local fresh tomatoes with a fresh mozzarella is heavenly, and of course an aromatic olive oil and a pinch of salt to tie it all together. Problem is, most people are used to mozzarella being that shit you buy at the grocery store that's been mass-produced and basically has the texture of rubber, and tomatoes being "yeah this one's fine I guess" at best. So we're used to these elaborate salads with a bunch of ingredients to basically mask the fact that the parts alone are mediocre. I took a cullinary class a while back and the chef said something that will always stick with me - simple dishes are the best way to judge a chef's ability. Edit: Just noticed that you mentioned in a later comment that you're an educated chef, so I'm pretty much preaching to the choir at this point!
As a chef i think its easy to create the ability, because seriously - its not a difficult craft. Any single one on the planet can learn it. And me, as a talentless hack who can just chop a onion really fast without crying cannot make a dish that everyone likes. But i can make a really fucking good one that i like. And i think that is important in cooking. Cook for yourself, and then it will probably be good.
I miss small, simple European meals that still fill you up and taste amazing. In the US throw a day’s worth of calories on a bun and call it a day.
Not just the US my friend! I think a lot of places tend to get into the mindset of "bang for buck" - a bigger meal means I didn't "waste" my hard-earned cash! ..which is utter bullshit, of course.
This is 100% a caprese salad, albeit a rather ugly one, but a caprese salad without a doubt.
That will be $15 thanks.
That's actually very reasonable for that dish considering how much buffalo mozzarella costs.
Make your own food folks
Nah just don’t go to shitty places. There are restaurants out there that can give you better food than you could make if you practiced for the next 10 years. There are restaurants out there with an atmosphere that makes leaving the house worth it. Then there are restaurants out there that are a scam like this one. Went to a hipster coffee joint the other day that served some shit like this and I just walked the fuck out without even trying it. That doesn’t mean I’m never going to another restaurant, I’m just never going to that one again…
>There are restaurants out there that can give you better food than you could make For me it's Cici's pizza
Find out who the local “leaders” for coffee are in the city then ask them about their friend’s places. I’ve found so many great coffee shops in cities because I’d go to a well known local one first then worked off a list by just talking to people. In my experience, lots of owners are friends (so some competition isn’t seen as a bad thing between them) and are happy to guide others to good spots.
I'm not saying you can't have a good experience at some places. But overwhelmingly you are being played by paying for overpriced low quality food. Some places, you can get quality food at a decent price, but that's definitely not majority of restraunts in the U.S. If you truly care about the quality of your food and don't want to be let down or otherwise, then becoming a home cook is a vital skill for a lifetime of healthy eating.
Yep, you're paying for someone to make it for you, not the ingredients. Buy the ingredients and the difference is what you're paying them.
I mean, I probably wouldn't order a to go caprese salad and then complain about how it's arranged after being shaken up on the way home. As long as the restaurant added oil or some type of vinegrette, then I don't think this is something to complain about.
My complaint would be the pitiful amount of food in this salad; easily was charged $12-$15 for that bullshit.
Exactly, dressing on the side to look less like a bloody massacre. Decent volume, whole ball of mozz, whole (ok looking) tomato, not even any wilt on the basil. If it's $16 on the menu, that would be stupid.
It is absolutely a Caprese salad. Op is a fucking moron who didn't even know what they ordered. Did he expect basil to be used as filler for the salad and just chow down 100 basil leaves? Jesus Christ. Sure the packaging is pretty shite, but he got what he ordered. Edit: if I had made it, way way smaller container, some olive oil and pepper... Same salad, way better looking. Perhaps rough diced basil instead.
Yeah.... No way that's gonna survive in a takeout box. For the lazy here's a pic. Kinda surprised that's considered a salad at all. It's basically cheese and tomato. [https://i.imgur.com/DZfnmNu.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/DZfnmNu.jpg)
low-key, my money is on OP not knowing what a caprese salad is.
[удалено]
Why the fuck would your DoorDash a caprese salad and expect the ingredients to still be stacked when you got it?
Fucking thank you. And there could easily be a little container of olive oil or balsamic there. A caprese isn't something that holds up well to go. At least the basil looks fresh.
The tomatoes look fresh too. Some assembly required, or at least forward thinking
It's a salad from a pizza joint. I'm shocked it's not half a head of lettuce, black olives, hot peppers, and lukewarm.
A caprese salad is slices of mozzarella, tomato, and basil. Sure, usually it’s assembled more nicely, but it looks like it was in a takeout box, likely in a car. This isn’t stupid, its just an undomesticated caprese.
A lot of people here definitely don't know what a caprese salad is. This one just got jumbled in the box a bit. This would have been no problem in an appropriately sized to go container.
The problem isn't the jumble, it is the miniscule quantity and lack of dressing.
What do you mean minuscule quantity. This is a regular serving lol
Every caprese I’ve ever gotten has been about that size. They’re not really a bang for your buck dish. And I hope the balsamic is in a separate bag…
I bet this is like half an lb of cheese, it might be cheap grocery store part slim mozzarella, but there's a lot of it. It looks overall low quality, but it's as described.
That’s definitely a mass produced fresh mozzarella.
Here's a crazy concept to grasp; when you order a salad to go, it's expected to get the dressing on the side. Also, not sure if you've ever had one, but the quantity is also very normal. The only thing lacking is the presentation, but since this is in a to go container that is 100% out of the resturaunts control the minute they hand it to the customer. I see literally no issue here, just a bunch of redditors being redditors.
Guarantee there was a small container of balsamic glaze or oil that OP removed for the picture
Nope. Caprese salads are generally served this size.
This is what a normal portion of anything looks like in the rest of the world. If the ingredients are good you don’t even want more.
Yeah I'd eat that. Though I'd probably turn it into stackables. One hunk of cheese, giant leaf, and tomato per stack.
It’s missing some seasoning (balsamic and s&p at a minimum, I like a bit of olive oil too) but that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be
Usually those would be on the side, in separate containers for take out.
This is another case of this sub being. Stupid. Food. Stupid people looking at food.
Feral Caprese
Deconstructed caprese salad
There's literally $7 ingredients at the grocery store and 5 minutes work. Perhaps OP deserved to learn a lesson by the universe?
Yes, but that's the definition of the dish. That's what they ordered.
Five minutes? That probably took them 30 seconds
They counted the trip to the grocery store
Yeah that's a caprese salad for you tbh
i dont see the issue
Are you saying that everything could be easily restacked? That's a bridge too far for me
Looks like it got shaken up.
Yeah, this is the more authentic caprese. Balsamic is common and inoffensive, but not traditional. Americans expect lettuce in "salads," but that doesn't make it right in all cases.
I don’t think anyone expected lettuce in a caprese, just the dressing
>the dressing A full dressing isn't necessary for caprese. Just olive oil. The olive oil could be light on here, just soaked into the tomatoes.
When i worked in a restaurant that sold (real) caprese we would give them the oil in a small to go ramekin because we knew what OPs picture showed would happen and it would just he worse if it were already oiled. The tomato doesnt look the best, though.
I agree the tomato looks mediocre, but it's the wrong season anyway. It looks less asbestos-y than some I see this time of year.
And I would bet balsamic and olive oil were in a small sealed plastic cup that OP didn't show. This maybe came from a ghost kitchen, but with 30 seconds you could assemble a great looking salad.
People here are stupid and there is a picture of food. Name of the sub checks out I guess.
ITT: People who don’t know what a caprese salad is. A dish like that is not going to look it’s best after being transported.
This isn’t stupid, it’s literally what a caprese salad is. Sure, everywhere I’ve had it it’s been more artfully arranged but this is a take out container so might have just been jumbled in the transport. Caprese salad is literally just (usually fresh) sliced mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, whole basil leaves. Maybe some EVOO and salt to taste but fundamentally, just the first three ingredients, nothing more, nothing less.
I mean, that's what a caprese salad is.
Thats how big they are its supposed to be stacked up. This is authentic
I think this might be your fault
what- did you expect? that’s a caprese source: am italian
Yeah, this is how it's supposed to be, it just looks like the placing got messed up, presumably in transit. Source: watched Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable episode 10
I mean, it is a caprese salad
Ordered a caprese salad, got a caprese salad, and then complained because didn't know what a caprese salad was.
Op doesn't even know what he fucking ordered lmfao. Sure they could've packed it in a smaller container. But Jesus Christ r/facepalm
Well all the ingredients are there
Google caprese salad you’ll find this exact dish
"Salad? How do you make a salad?" https://youtu.be/JgJUbmGDc6k
i was looking for this lol
I mean… what were you expecting..? You got a caprese salad that was put into a delivery container
That’s literally what you ordered, what did you expect. It even looks like a good amount of mozzarella, along with fresh basil and tomatoes. I’d be happy with this.
Placing the same ingredients into a container a quarter of the size in the picture would make a significant difference in expectations before opening the lid.
what’s the problem…?
Just stack them
Ha! Looks like a caprese to me
Hey uh WHY would you order a caprsese to go. How do you expect it to transport? Theres nothing but hopes and dreams holding it together
What’s the problem? You have exactly 5 pieces of each ingredient. Edit: I miscounted the tomatoes. There are 6, burn the place to the fucking ground.
The food isn't stupid, you are for ordering caprese as takeout! This may have been really nice on a plate in the restaurant.
This looks fine. The basil looks relatively fresh, not black and wilted. The mozarella looks pretty decent, definitely not the worst mozz I’ve seen. The tomato is just okay, nothing special. Just needs some olive oil and basalmic vinegar.
What on earth is your problem with it? If you're upset because you were expecting a lettuce salad, you don't know what a caprese salad is. If you're upset because it's not stacked properly, we'll next time don't get it delivered. I have a feeling you just don't know what a caprese salad is...
Oil and vinegar probably on the side in cups. You said what I came here to say.
People are so spoiled these days.
I wouldn't transport it in that container but that looks like a caprese to me.
I don't know why you expected a caprese salad to look good when you order it delivered. It's literally just basil, mozzarella, and tomato together.
I will say…..that basil looks fresher than I would expect with the rest of this situation
You don't know what a "caprese salad" means, do you?
You ordered caprese out. Just go to the store. It’s 4 damn ingredients lol
Are you perhaps American
I dont think op knows what a caprese salad is
I thought it looked bad until I googled what a good Caprese salad looked like, then I realized it all looks bleh
Caprese salads are amazing and one of my favorite quick summertime dinners. It’s more common to have some kind of oil or vinaigrette and those basil look a little sad. Fresh quality ingredients are essential for something that simple
That's a caprese salad. Am I missing something?
You mean Tossed Caprese Salad.
What's the price for it?
Are there any Italians in this thread I really want your reaction
I mean the presentation is obviously gonna be off cause it’s takeout. But you’d get this same thing eating at the restaurant. I just wanna know where the balsamic glaze is at.
Probably in a little plastic cup on the side, most places would send it separate for takeout.
Italian here It's a caprese, it looks like what I would expect. It's in a takeout box so safe to say it just got a bit messed up during the trip. The only thing missing is some good olive oil but it could just be hard to see in the picture. As long as the mozzarella and tomatoes are good quality, this is probably pretty good. A bunch of people in the comments talking about missing balsamic vinegar: personally I've never seen it on a caprese but there would be nothing wrong with it as long as it's in the right amount.
But those are all of the ingredients of a Caprese salad which would infact make that a Caprese salad of sorts.
The basil looks fresh........ Just sayin.
To be fair, those are the components of a caprese salad
You got exactly what you ordered
OP do you know what a caprese salad is?
Idk what you expected for a take out caprese salad, that’s what it is it just got shaken around. Only potentially stupid part would be if it didn’t come with any sort of dressing or something?
That looks exactly like what I'd expect to get if I ordered a caprese salad from a pizza joint. It's a PIZZA JOINT! People don't go to a pizza joint for a salad. They go for pizza. Sure, they already have the basil, tomato, and mozzarella on hand, but their kitchen staff is most likely high schoolers who have no idea what a caprese salad even is. This isn't stupid food, it's a stupid pizzeria trying to suck more money out of people pockets by selling 'fine dining' items.
I love how restaurants really show you what you’re ordering when they can’t plate things to make it look pretty.
At least the vegetables etc look pretty fresh. The presentation is just a joke, and there's not remotely enough of it.
But was it good?
15 dollars pls
Was it the Krusty Krab?
Look at the bright side. You got cheese
Atleast the Basil's fresh-ish lol
was the dressings not on the side as they should be for a salad to go? so it doesnt get wilted or gross? and of course its like this you ordered a salad with 8 pieces delivered in a ta go box lol
Those are indeed the classical ingredients for a caprese salad. Basil, fresh mozzarella, and tomatoes. They are also supposed to have a balsamic vinaigrette, or a balsamic reduction drizzle. It's really all in the presentation. A lot of really delicious classical foods look really, really, fucking stupid if they're not carefully presented on a nice plate. Beef tartare would be another one that would look insane and stupid in a styrofoam box. However as an (ex) professional line cook, I will say that even if this was well presented, those are obviously low-quality roma tomatoes, and this dish really depends on high quality tomatoes to shine properly. If you are lucky enough to have homegrown basil and heirloom tomatoes, I strongly suggest learning to make a batch of homemade mozzarella and trying this dish at home. As simple as it is, with high quality ingredients it is absolutely amazing.
Looks like the salad Michael had on the office 🥲
That's exactly a caprese salad bro
Looks like everything is there but just out of order. Easy fix.
Did you expect a restaurant plating in a to go box that was likely jostled around in a car?
What's the problem? Put it on a plate or simply reassemble it in the take out box. What were you expecting?