Celebrating fresh mozzarella and the season of fresh tomatoes, Chef Jason Dunn recently created what has been dubbed the World’s Largest Caprese Salad at Lewis Station Winery, in Lake Mills, WI.
“The Caprese salad will be a Wisconsin record—and most likely a world record—at 32 feet long,” Chef Dunn says.
The 32-foot-long creation took four people approximately one hour to assemble. It incorporated 96 pounds of the award-winning cheese Farmstead Classics Fresh Mozzarella from Crave Brothers in Waterloo, WI.
In addition, the lengthy salad was comprised of 34 quarts of locally-sourced tomatoes, 3 pounds of locally-grown basil (four different types), 2 quarts of olive oil and 1 quart of balsamic vinegar.
For $10, winery guests could order a serving of “The Mother of All Caprese Salads,” paired with a glass of rosé wine. A portion of the evening’s proceeds were donated to Club 55 at Lake Mills Senior Center.
The former caprese salad record-holder is a 24-foot-long version made in San Diego.
Chef Dunn explains that the idea for the World’s Largest Caprese Salad arose out of a conversation he had with cheesemaker George Crave last year. “George and I threw the idea around because we have such beautiful tomatoes here in August, and we serve Crave Brothers’ fresh Mozzarella weekly on our menu.”
Licensed cheesemaker Crave oversees the making of all the Crave Brothers cheeses. “Caprese salad is such a good way to use our fresh Mozzarella that we thought it would be fun to do it in a big way,” he says. Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese is sustainably produced in the family’s own farmstead cheese-making facility that practices water conservation and recycling and uses 100 percent green power. The anaerobic biodigester produces enough electricity to power the Crave Brothers Farm, the farmstead cheese-making plant and over 300 homes in their community.
Chef Jason Dunn is a third-generation restaurateur and has worked in the business for 39 years. He currently works at family-operated Bev’s Restaurant, but has held previous positions at White Horse Inn, Crandall’s, Sandhill Inn in Merrimac and other restaurants.
