Cook\'s Country - 2019-06-07

8 COOK’S COUNTRY • JUNE/JULY 2019

Tomato Primer
You can use any medium-size round, ripe
tomatoes in this recipe (do not use plum
tomatoes). Ripe tomatoes should feel
heavy for their size and give slightly when
pressed. Here are a few good choices.

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WHAT IS THE ultimate way to

savor summer? Ask any of the South-

erners on the Cook’s Country team (we

have a few), and they’ll tell you: white

sandwich bread, mayonnaise (prefera-

bly Duke’s, a Southern favorite), slices

of perfectly ripe tomato, salt, and

pepper. That’s it. No fancy artisanal

bread, elaborate aioli, Himalayan

salt, arugula, or cheese. It’s all about

simplicity. And yet we found ourselves

talking about it for hours.

Although the recipe has few

ingredients, so many things can go

wrong. The tomatoes may be under-

ripe, the slices too large and unwieldy,

or the construction imperfect. And

what about those days (let’s face it:

months) when you don’t have access

to a perfect tomato? I not only was

determined to develop an exceptional

tomato sandwich but also wanted to

create a recipe that would be equally

successful no matter what condition

the tomatoes were in: a recipe that

could live year-round, from the start

of summer, before the best of the har-

vest, to well beyond the season’s end.

To get the most out of my tomatoes,

I sliced them and then marinated them

in a mixture of extra-virgin olive oil,

red wine vinegar, and salt. The olive oil

encouraged the complex tomato fl avor

to come forward, the vinegar enhanced

the tomatoes’ brightness, and the

salt—well, salt amplifi es everything.

I found that this mixture worked just

as well with perfect tomatoes straight

off the vine as it did with tough, bland

off -season tomatoes.

Marinating extruded some of the liq-

uid and jelly from the tomatoes; rather

than discard these intensely fl avorful

elements (the jelly, in particular, is full

of fl avor), I reserved some—along with

some marinade— to stir into the mayo

before spreading it on the bread.

A few side-by-side tests proved

that the right tomato slice thickness is

crucial to the success of the sandwich.

After experimenting with several

diff erent measurements, I found that

¼-inch-thick slices were ideal to

ensure stable architecture both on the

plate and in hand. A serrated knife

made for tidy slicing. All the sandwich

needed was a hint of ground black

pepper to fi nish.

This was the contemporary

makeover of the Southern tomato

sandwich that I had been looking for.

And for once, I didn’t mind using

less-than-perfect tomatoes.

This summertime stalwart seems so simple. But it’s also particular.

by Natalie Estrada

Marinating Tomatoes
Laying the zipper-lock bag fl at minimizes
jostling (and thus breakage) while maxi-
mizing marinade contact (and thus fl avor).

Summer Tomato

Sandwiches

VINE-RIPENED

KUMATO

YELLOW