On The Side #5 | Tomatoes
(in salads)
Here’s this month’s ‘On The Side’ column. You can find previous editions here, and will see that there’s always a general discussion of the ingredient in question, with ideas and prompts for ways to turn that thing into a great side dish. And then at least 3 actual recipes. Those recipes are behind the paywall — it takes me an age to ensure these weekly posts and the recipes within them are interesting, entertaining and above all, tasty. Please do consider supporting this newsletter by becoming a paid subscriber.
You might also like to up your egg game with a copy of Good Eggs??
I’m calling it. It’s tomato time.
Not because the tomatoes taste any good yet (most don’t). Or because it feels like summer (it really doesn’t). It’s just, well … it’s time to get going on the most dependable of summer side dishes: the tomato salad.
This is the dish that goes with everything. The thing that’s so simple, and so effective — just room temperature tomatoes, a generous pinch of salt, some grassy olive oil. What more do you need?
Well, unless you’re in Spain, France or Italy at peak season, you do need a bit more. Tomatoes love embellishment, and there are myriad options. So that's what this post is about. You and I are going to be making tomato salads for the foreseeable, so we may as well give them the best chance possible of being awesome.
If you’ve been following forever, you’ll know that before eggs it was tomatoes.
Piles and crates of plump tomatoes have always called out to me, whether that’s at the polluted kerbside at a North London greengrocer, or in a more bucolic setting, such as a market in Provence or Mallorca. I suspect many of you feel a visceral pull too (although you probably don’t have 2452 images of tomatoes on your iPhone - no joke), and so hope you find this an appealing one.
Tomato salads go especially well with
What don’t they go well with?
Serve alongside
You’ll want something green and leafy.
And a carb or two: boiled or crisp-smashed-roast baby potatoes; a pasta or rice or pulse or mix of all three.
Maybe some roast or barbecued root veg, peppers or boiled or grilled sweetcorn.
Tomato salads also match pretty much any slaw or saucy dippy thing you throw at the table as well.
Useful condiments and seasonings
Consider the following
Soft herbs. Yes, basil is great. But change things up from time to time with: chervil; tarragon; celery tops; flat leaf parsley (quite finely chopped); sorrel; mint.
Spices. Whole seeds, toasted and then lightly pounded (so they don’t stick in your teeth). Can also fry in olive oil and drizzle with that oil. Specifically: fennel seeds; cumin seeds; coriander seeds.
Vinegar. Not always necessary, but if the tomatoes are not perfect then a drop of vinegar will lift them. It doesn’t have to be balsamic. In fact, unless you’re fixated on a Caprese salad, try something else.
Or other pickled things. Capers; caper berries; cornichons; finely diced and quick pickled celery, cucumbers or radish.
A wet base. Whipped tahini; yoghurt or labneh; ricotta; whipped feta; tonnato sauce (see below).
Cheese. Parmesan; pecorino; feta; grated halloumi; burrata; mozzarella.
Chilli flakes or chilli oils. Try Lau Gan Ma crispy chilli oil, a Sichuan oil, or a salsa macha.
Shallots. Not onions (certainly in the UK, we just can’t get those super mild, slightly sweet Spanish white onions). Dice the shallots very finely and salt them. You will also need a dash of vinegar.
Something savoury and crunchy. Peanuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds, all pounded or chopped to a coarse rubble; crispy fried shallots.
Fruit. Cantaloupe melon is best; strawberries are good too; also cherries.
How to prepare tomatoes
I’m sure you know this already, but regardless of whether you plan on doing much with the tomatoes, you must:
Store the tomatoes at room temperature, not in the fridge.
Cut the tomatoes in part to suit their shape, and in part to simply suit what you fancy
if the tomato is an interesting shape or colour, or is very fleshy, then personally I like irregular chunks;
really flavourful, medium-large tomatoes are great sliced into discs through their equator;
if you want seasoning to have any effect on cherry or small tomatoes, then halve or quarter them.
Salt the tomatoes generously 10-15 minutes before eating.
Be extremely liberal with peppery extra virgin olive oil.
If the tomatoes are underwhelming, you can also add a drop or two of a vinegar — sherry vinegar, moscatel vinegar, or red wine vinegar are the best lifters. Obviously there’s balsamic too.
The Recipes
First up, I want to point you in the direction of the tomato tomato recipe from my first book, On the Side (Bloomsbury, 2017). Salty and fishy yet also strangely not; there’s a savoury note that takes over and matches the natural umami in tomatoes. It’s bloody great, particularly alongside beefy things or roast/spatchcocked/barbecue chicken. If you don’t have the book, you can get the recipe here within my Substack archive.
And then this week’s recipes:
Tomato, fennel and caper salad. My other most-made summer/BBQ side is a shaved fennel salad, which is always juicy, fresh, a little crunchy, and something that works so well (in particular) with white fish, chicken or sausages. It also goes brilliantly with tomatoes (tomato and aniseed = banger), so sometimes I cut out the middle man and mingle the two from the off.
Heritage tomato, lime and red kidney bean salad. A super example of how the side can shape a meal. This evokes the flavours and colours of Central America, bringing a little sunshine to your steak, fish or prawns, and perhaps prompting other sides like corn on the cob, some tortillas or sweet potatoes.
Something that I’m calling ‘pesto crumble’. Which went brilliantly over cooled confit tomatoes, although I’ll use leftovers later on today over same basic sliced and lightly salted tomatoes.
There are also couple of videos showing you what you’re aiming for. Plus, at the bottom of this post, I also point you in the direction of some other cracking tomato salads that I know you’ll enjoy.
