Why This Works Without Smell
This recipe is very close to my heart, as it is wrapped up with memories of my dad and both my grandfathers, one English, one French.
My English grandpa, a very active and kindly family man who taught me a lot, always grew his own tomatoes in his garden, and my French grandfather - Papi - retired to the South of France where he kept a small kitchen garden in which were grown the most massive beef tomatoes I have ever seen. As a child, I was lucky enough to spend all my summers in the South of France, where my dad used to make this incredible salad out of those giant tomatoes.
When I grow my own tomatoes and then make this salad, I remember all three with love.
The 'home grown' bit really comes from my realisation that it's very difficult to buy good, tasty, fresh tomatoes from supermarkets in the UK and, really, this is a summer salad par exellence, so it is far better made with the freshest tomatoes you can find (and how much fresher can you get than picking your own?)
Because I grew up with this recipe, I still have a strong memory of all its tastes, but this works very well even if you can't pick out individual flavours. The tomatoes, being fresh, should be very sweet but with a savoury/umami edge, which is complemented by the salty, sour sharpness of the vinaigrette. Texturally, the soft tomatoes are livened up by the mild cruch of the onion and the freshness of the parlsey.
Ingredients
- 3 home grown beef tomatoes or an equivalent volume of different tomato varieties
- 1 small white onion
- 2 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp walnut oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- Sea salt, pepper
- Parlsey, to garnish
Method
1. Slice the tomatoes
Slice the tomatoes thickly and arrange neatly in a nice-looking dish
2. Make the vinaigrette
Put the vinegar in a small bowl and add the olive oil. Whisk with a fork for about 30 seconds until emulsified (it should take on a slightly creamy consistency).
Add the walnut oil and briefly whisk again.
Add the honey, mustard, salt and pepper and whisk until combined.
Taste. If you want more sharpness add more vinegar, more sweetness add more honey, etc. If you gone too far with any of the flavourings, add more oil. You will want it quite sharp to complement the sweet tomatoes.
3. Chop the onion and parlsey
Chop the onion as finely as you can. Chefs would call this 'minced' onion, but still use a knife, otherwise it will become slightly mushy.
Pick the leaves off the parsley and chop them very roughly. It doesn't hurt to leave some leaves whole, just make sure you're not serving the parsley stems.
4. Finish and serve
Sprinkle the chopped onion on the neatly arranged slices of tomatoes. It will seem like there is too much onion, but the vinaigrette will soften the onion flavour considerably.
Splash the vinaigrette over the tomatoes and finish with the chopped parlsey.
Set aside for about 10 minutes to let the flavours mingle.
Serve with crusty bread and maybe some nice cheese for a delicious light lunch, fresh, sharp and sweet.
Tips
On tomatoes: Do not attempt to make this with cheap supermarket tomatoes. I cannot emphasise this enough. They are tasteless and you'll end up with just the sharpness of the vinaigrette.
On tomatoes #2: This can work really well with several different tomato varieties arranged together. Because I grow lots of different tomatoes, I often end up mixing a classic beef tomato variety like ox heart or brandywine with a couple of black krims and a scattering of halved yellow honeycombs
On vinaigrette: I strongly encourage you to adjust this according to taste. Personally, I love the sharpness of the vinegar and a fairly large pinch of salt, but I know people that much prefer it to be milder. Also, the higher the quality of the red wine vinegar the better. If you have an old bottle of the stuff and there are bits settled at the bottom, tip it down the sink and buy a new bottle. Even if you can't taste at all, you'll notice the difference.