Summer Food: The Tastes of Summer: Tomato-Mozzarella Salad

Nothing says summer more emphatically than a salad of Jersey tomatoes. Pair fat beefsteaks or heirlooms with slices of fresh cow’s – milk mozzarella made at Claudio Mozzarella (922 South 9th Street; 215 – 238 – 0435). Add a pinch or two of coarse kosher salt. Drizzle with Podere Collelungo olive oil ($25 for a 500 – milliliter bottle), found only at Fork Etc. (306 Market Street, 215 – 625 – 9425; forkrestaurant.com) and produced from handpicked, ­chemical – free Frantoio, Moraiolo and Leccino olives grown on an estate owned by Fork partner Roberto Sella. Apply a few sweet drops of 25 – year – old balsamic vinegar from Claudio’s King of Cheese (926 South 9th Street; 215 – 627 – 1873). Finish the salad with a grinding of black pepper and a handful of Genovese basil, preferably from your own garden.