🍅 Summer staple: Make a tomato sandwich like you mean it
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Glorious. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Tomato sandwiches and summer are practically synonymous in the South, and though August is around the corner, I'm not even close to tired of them.
Why it matters: I eat a tomato sandwich for lunch almost every day, and I want to share my approach, refined over gallons of mayonnaise and pounds of tomatoes.
Yes, but: I depart from conventional Southern style in a couple ways, otherwise I'd just link to some of the many other solid tomato sandwich how-tos.
- The classic tomato sandwich calls for run-of-the-mill white sandwich bread from the supermarket. That's fine (and nostalgic), but I guess I'm bougie in my taste for sourdough.
- Traditionally, the fourth ingredient in the sandwich is salt (and sometimes pepper). Instead, I use Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning, the "More Spice" version. It's salty and packs a spiciness that adds a lot to the sandwich.
State of play: What can't be compromised is the tomato. It has to be heirloom, it has to be ripe, and it has to be from the garden or a farmer's market. No ifs, ands or buts.
- Bonus points for a big beefsteak-style tomato that can provide a nice, thick slice. For this sandwich, I used a Great White, one of my favorites.
- The mayonnaise: Duke's. Don't @ me, just ask Sean Brock.
Zoom in: The process is simple: lightly toast the bread and spread a nice covering of Duke's on each slice, and cover the mayonnaise in Tony's on both slices of bread.
- Cut the tomato into two thick slices and make the sandwich. Voilà.
- I generally grab some chips or cut a cucumber for a side.
📢 Holler: If you make one, let me know what you think! And if you have any variations of your own, or any tomato varieties I need to know about, just hit reply!