Today, I pay homage to my most favorite food. One day, hopefully long away in the future, when I breathe my last breath, I pray I have just finished A TOMATO SANDWICH, made by Southern hands.
I simply think there is no better creation than some fine mayo slathered on some thick bread loaded down with too many to count slices of tomatoes; and of course, lets not forget….way too much salt & pepper on those things. Hmmm….
Fisherman looks on in disbelief as I eat my piece of heaven and cannot believe there are two tomatoes worth of slices on that bad boy, or that there is no bacon or lettuce anywhere to be found. OF COURSE THERE ISN’T. BLT’s are good – but they aren’t a tomato sandwich. There is a vast difference. And in my mind, to be truly Southern – 1. You need to be born in the south and 2. You need to relish a pure & simple tomato sandwich.  (I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on my Southern comments!!!) 😉
So how do I create such a delectable sandwich?
First, you must start with the proper ingredients….good, real Mayo….not Miracle Whip…the real deal.
Second, thick crusty bread…think day old bread to sop up all that juice.
Third, so many tomato slices that they are falling out of the sandwich.
And lastly, a VERY generous helping of kosher salt & fresh ground pepper. (Yes, I will probably pass from too high blood pressure, but life without some salt would be very sad indeed.)
You’ve got to sprinkle the salt & pepper two times on each side to reach the desired amount. And getting the spice all over the bread adds some special umpf!
Now eat that summer goodness and wash it all down with some Southern style sweet tea.
Love ya’ll,
Jessica
P.S….don’t even think about trying this in the winter or any other time when fresh off the vine tomatoes aren’t available!
I guess I’m not officially Southern then ;). We have tomato sandwiches up in the Northeast, too. My Gram would make them all the time (and probably still does) with the tomatoes from her garden, but we make them with plain Jane white bread. It’s probably the only time I eat regular white bread, so it makes it kind of special.
Dear Colleen, I hereby adopt you as a Southerner since you grew up making these!!! And I agree whole heartedly on the white bread….except that it ends up sticking to the roof of your mouth…but that is just part of the memory, right?
Tonight should be fun!
Jess
Yum!!
I’m literally drooling reading this! I LOVE a good tomato sandwich. It is one of the simple joys of summer that I look forward to every year. I agree with Colleen on the white bread though. It’s the only time of year I eat it too. I’ve tried whole wheat & it just doesn’t have the same taste. The bread you used looked liked like it came from a bakery, so I’ve sure that was equally delicious!!! 🙂
Hey Jen,
I’m so glad you liked the post! I agree with you & Colleen that white bread is normally the way to go. I actually am going to revise the post to include that. I had just gone to Saffron Bakery and couldn’t believe the bread prices…$1.25 for a loaf of day old bread! The bakery bread worked fantastic for the sandwich but my child hood memories of this sandwich always include white bread. Never wheat bread for a tomato sandwich!!!
Looking forward to tonight!
Jess
Yummm! I wholeheartedly agree…a tomato sandwich, made exactly that way, is something I relish eating in the summer and that always makes me nostalgic. My grandma always liked a tomato biscuit in season too.
tomato envy!
I grew up in the south eating tomato sandwiches (although I can’t deal with mayo of any sort, so mine are always nekkid. 🙂