THE tomato sandwich. A first-timer’s tale
Late last night after a dinner of pasta and garden tomatoes a strange thought occurred. Not once in the dozen years I have lived in the South have I eaten a tomato sandwich. In fact, if you define such sandwich as sliced summer tomatoes, white bread and mayo, I had never — not once — eaten one. That seemed an amusing Facebook update, so up it went.
Despite the advanced hour of the posting, I quickly racked up more than 40 responses. “What’s wrong with you?” asked the aghast. “It’s a pre-requisite for citizenship,” they huffed.
The recipes that started pouring in were, of course, simple and repetitive: Tomatoes (just picked), white bread (the “no nutritional value” kind), mayo (has to be Duke’s, say most), salt and pepper (enough to turn the tomato black, according to one fellow).
One person suggested an advanced version that involved cream cheese, ground dill and Splenda, but she was quickly booed off the stage.
“No whole wheat bread, no dill, no lemon, no cream cheese. It has to be white bread, white mayo, white salt, black pepper and tomatoes — warm from the sun if you can get them,” someone responded huffily.
As a food writer, I was quite familiar with this basic sandwich. In fact, I can’t mention a summer tomato in a story without someone writing an email to the effect of, “Mmm, mmm, ‘mater sammich!” and directing me to make one and stand over the sink to catch the juices.
Yet I had never once been tempted to try it.
Though we’ve been growing backyard tomatoes for the past several years at home, we default to an olive oil dressing — often with chopped shallots and a splash of vinegar, but sometimes with basil and a mozzarella we deem worthy of the tomatoes. For a sandwich, we pack these ingredients into a split baguette with a little prosciutto throw in for good measure.
Of course, I grew up before the Age of Caprese. Olive oil was something I saw in the gourmet foods aisle next to the tinned octopus, but not something my folks kept in the kitchen. Nor did we have a vegetable garden. Instead, we bought our summer tomatoes from roadside farm stands on the way to the Jersey shore. Once we got to the beach house, we made BLTs with toasted white bread, Hellman’s mayo, iceberg lettuce and Oscar Meyer’s finest. “There’s nothing like a Jersey tomato,” my mother would sigh.
I went to bed thinking, and then dreaming, of tomato sandwiches. So when I woke up this morning I went out to the garden and found one perfectly ripe Cherokee Purple tomato that pulled from the vine with a nudge.
I thought of making a nice BLT. I thought of the Holy Trinity of tomatoes, basil and olive oil. I then thought of the seeming apostasy of mayonnaise. I really should try it…
This project involved a run to Kroger because our bread choices consisted of English muffins or a multigrain loaf that promised enough fiber in each serving to last through the recession. Nor did we have prepared mayonnaise.
Most of my friends recommended Duke’s mayonnaise. One said Kraft had a preferable “lemony” flavor. North Carolina chef and author Bill Smith wrote a great piece about the tomato sandwich and admitted, with perhaps a touch of contrition, he preferred Hellman’s.
“Duke’s seems too sweet to me,” Smith writes, “but I refuse to get really worked up about this. People should suit themselves. We’re talking about lunch , not a historical re-enactment.”
So I went with Hellman’s, hoping I’d tap into a vein of flavor nostalgia that would explain the tomato sandwich to my tastebuds. I almost bought Sara Lee white bread, but couldn’t go through with it. I haven’t had a piece of squishy white bread stick to the roof of my mouth for years, and couldn’t see going back. Pepperidge Farm white would be plenty soft.
And so I made my sandwich: a thick-but-not-too smear of mayo on each slice of bread, two juicy rounds of my prize tomato, salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
Holy. Freaking. Face-stuffingness.
I’ve been missing this all my life?
How do you describe a taste that your soul already knows but your tongue says is a novel thrill?
I get it.
The mayo and the anodyne bread put the sweetness and acid of the tomato in high relief with their richness and ballast.
That tomato — rich in natural glutamates that make the mouth water and the tongue tingle with the sensation of umami — belongs as much between two pieces of bread as a juicy burger or a mound of warm corned beef.
I felt stunned by the yearning receptiveness of my tastebuds to this flavor, but not too stunned to eat a second sandwich. This must be as close as I’ve gotten in life to reproducing the sensation of suckling.
I had to run to work, but not before giving one of my daughters precise instructions on how to make her own sandwich with the leftovers.
“Tomato with mayonnaise?” she asked incredulously. “Gross!”
“Trust me,” I said.
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105 comments Add your comment
Stan
July 9th, 2009
5:06 pm
That’s why I like to read your work John. You rave like about the simple pleasures with more feeling than you do the $35 dinner for one at the bar. (I almost choked at the thought of dinner for one costing more than ~$10 tops)
Note: I could not eat a raw tomato if my life depended on it. Cooked I’m fine with.
marykayandrews
July 9th, 2009
5:28 pm
Two words. Duke’s rules. John, I’m headed for the Jersey shore this weekend. I intend to stop at the first farmstand I see, buy me one of them yankee ‘maters and check it out to see if it stands up to the ‘maters ripening in our garden back home in Atlanta. One hitch. I forgot to pack my jar of Duke’s in with my book-siging equipment.
Ralph Ellis
July 9th, 2009
5:40 pm
Welcome to the Southland.
DX
July 9th, 2009
5:44 pm
Delightful. Welcome to the South.
Lynn Kessel
July 9th, 2009
6:01 pm
During the first weekend in May, you must come try our Ruskin tomatoes at the Ruskin Tomato Festival. Every visitor gets free, sliced tomatoes and tomato sandwiches are sold to benefit charity. Each year, around 2,000 visitors get fully grown tomato plants, as well.
The Food Tutor
July 9th, 2009
7:08 pm
It really is quite amazing, isn’t it?
In disagreement with the Duke’s comment, I’d note that the reasons I like Duke’s are a) it’s really cheap, and sometimes the cheapest one on the shelf and b) it doesn’t contain sugar, which means you can have it if you’re low-carbing, in which case you couldn’t eat this as a sammich anyway, but I find it to be less sweet than other mayos, and certainly much less sweet than the Miracle Whip my mother prefers.
At any rate, my incredible stinginess usually brings me to make this sandwich with generic white bread (or banh mi bread, since that’s cheap too), generic mayo and roma tomatoes, if I must have one off-season. In-season, anything goes, but sometimes you just gotta have it.
Lisa
July 9th, 2009
8:50 pm
We have some Rutger’s tomatoes on our deck. I am watching to see when they will be ripe enough for a ‘mater sammie. I am a yankee gal and I LOVE them. Don’t care a whit about adding bacon BUT I do require Hellman’s. Duke’s is too sweet and watery to me. Again, I am a yankee. Still waiting for my tomatoes..
Stuart
July 9th, 2009
11:57 pm
I SERIOUSLY beg to disagree with anyone claiming Duke’s is too sweet. Duke’s has had the same recipe for 100 years, and it’s never involved adding sugar, as it clearly says on the label. “Contains no sugar.” Anyone claiming Duke’s is too sweet has never actually tried Duke’s. It’s a rural myth. I have eaten tomato sandwiches most of my 49 years, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I insist on Duke’s. When I lived outside the south, I brought jars with me, or had them sent. Hellman’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc….they’re like the Zima of mayonnaise.
Regarding “alternative ingredients….” Lou Reed once said “If it has more than three chords, it’s jazz.” Country music is called “three chords and the truth.” (Well, it used to be, anyway.) So if it’s got anything besides tomatoes, mayonnaise and bread, with a little salt & pepper, it ain’t a tomato sandwich.
caren goode
July 10th, 2009
10:15 am
If you really want to live, put a slice of vidalia onion on it! Hellman’s forever!
Darin
July 10th, 2009
11:15 am
Hmm, you’ve almost convinced me to try one. I’m a Georgia native myself and I’ve never indulged. My Dad used to make this sandwich all the time when I was a kid from tomatoes we grew in our own garden, but when I saw him eat one I thought it looked incredibly gross. Part of my problem then was that I didn’t like mayo.
But I’ve grown up now and I’ve learned to love Duke’s mayo, so I might give this sandwich a try if I can get a hold of some decent tomatoes.
Question: doesn’t the bread, when it’s untoasted, combine with the squishy texture of the tomatoes and mayo to make an overall too-soft sandwich? That’s my main hesitation — that I’m not going to like the texture of it. Someone convince me I’m wrong about that, please, so I can build up the courage.
Stan
July 10th, 2009
12:07 pm
Darin,
IMO the mayo acts as a shield for the bread to keep it from turning into mush. So the mayo is very important, not brand as much as just it being on BOTH slices of bread.
And your not alone…I’m tempted to try once again in sammich form even though I can’t stad raw matters.
Lisa
July 10th, 2009
8:49 pm
I have tried Dukes and it tastes sweet to me. Don’t care that the label says no sugar. Maybe it’s just the yankee in me. Not worth fighting over.
Minjenah
July 11th, 2009
1:32 am
Tomato sandwiches are the best. White squishy bread is very important. As for mayo, I actually like to make my own. It tastes brighter somehow. And I like a little Vidalia sweet onion in mine.
Art
July 11th, 2009
6:41 pm
I grow tomatoes every year for one purpose and one purpose only… a tomato sandwich. I may later make BLT’s, Caprese salad, etc. but the very first thing must be a tomato sandwich… Duke’s is good and so is Hellman’s… during the course of the summer I’ll use both… The bread must be Wonder Bread… so soft it clings to the roof of your mouth… kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper are a must as well. I haven’t had my first yet… the tomato worms and the rabbits have been doing their darndest to spoil my fun but I will eventually persevere… the bread and the mayo are waiting in the cupboard.
Frank
July 11th, 2009
9:10 pm
Yall Atlanta yankees have never had a good tomato sandwich. Down here in Savannah we use Dukes, garden grown tomatos, salt, pepper and Captain John Derst bread made right here in the heart of the real south.
Marsi Thrash
July 11th, 2009
9:14 pm
Hellmann’s is a must. Welcome to the addiction! There is nothing like a tomato sandwich that’s still warm from the sun. I like my white bread toasted every so slightly – a delicate crispness on the outside, but no change in color. I also like to add very, very thinly sliced Viadlia onions (only VIDALIA!) sometimes.
Another amazing way to use summer tomatoes is tomato pie. Bake off a pie shell and then layer it with sliced tomatoes, dried basil, salt and pepper. Top it with 3/4 cup mayo mixed with 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar, spread over the pie like a crust. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until the crust is bubbly and melted. Heaven.
JR
July 11th, 2009
9:15 pm
They taste even better standing over the kitchen sink.
Luvem
July 11th, 2009
9:34 pm
White bread, mayo(any kind), GEORGIA tomatoes with high acid content, chilled, salt and lots of pepper equals heaven. I know folks, myself included, who “break out” in a rash from eating to many…Lord, I’m starving!
SS
July 11th, 2009
9:43 pm
We would have a garden in the summertime and as a treat, my mom would cut the tomato add salt and pepper, and we would eat it without the bread. It was the best thing to eat besides corn on the cob and every now and then, I have a tomato sandwich and think of that garden and summertime when I was young.
jon
July 11th, 2009
9:46 pm
John,
You have been close to the perfect Southern sammitch, but you need to tweak the recipe.
Blue Plate Mayo. Sunbeam bread, and home grown Big Boy tomato. You want a ‘mater that is big enough around the middle so that it only takes one slice for the sandwich. Cut you about a 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick slice and slap it on that Sunbeam. Ahhhhh, slap your Mama good!
My parents and paternal grandparents moved to the South in the 1950s so I had to learn the pleasures of the mater sandwich from a lady up the road that I cut grass for as a teenager. I recall my folks saying that one thing about the South that amazed them was that people would make a sandwich out of anything. Tomatoes, pineapple, cucumbers.
teresa
July 11th, 2009
10:35 pm
Now eat a banana sandwhich, minus the salt and pepper
Carter is a Fool
July 11th, 2009
10:39 pm
I like to put them on toast and add a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. Great with a few chips to go with it.
jon
July 11th, 2009
10:57 pm
I forgot nanner sammitches,
Then we could into the perfect BLT.
ADL
July 11th, 2009
11:12 pm
Bravo Jon.
One tomato slice should be enough for one sandwich. Overlapping slices get messy.
Any mayonnaise works well, except Kraft. Way too much lemon.
jon
July 11th, 2009
11:14 pm
And I would like to add this comment to the discussion. I have never bought a tomato that was fit to eat. Seriously, whether it’s supermarket, organic, side of the road, or whatever.
The simulated tomato product that is sold in this modern world is a joke. Yes, even the road-side stand and Farmers’ Market ones suck. And I think that the plants we are buying for home-growing are getting genetically closer to the “truck farm” tomatoes we are offered everywhere else.
jon
July 11th, 2009
11:24 pm
ADL,
Multiple slices is just wrong. On the single slice sandwich, the skin will help contain the juices. We want the juice to mix with the mayo, salt and pepper and soak into the white bread – minimizing the chin dribble.
jdelaney724@hotmail.com
July 11th, 2009
11:47 pm
Hellmans, all thy way! Duke sucks, and so does Miracle Whip!
Yank
Western Yankee
July 12th, 2009
12:10 am
Being a “Western Yankee” growing up on the West Coast, it is whole grain bread,Miracle Whip light and tomatoes sprinkled with salt and pepper for me. The bacon is optional, but I do like it on my sandwich.
Tom
July 12th, 2009
12:24 am
Its the best tasting sandwich on a hot day with a glass of sweet tea.
jon
July 12th, 2009
12:30 am
Western Yankee, so it’s whole grain bread and Miracle Whip light for you?
Whole grain bread? Give me a break! We are talking about the ultimate Southern culinary sandwich here and you are worried about your d*mn colon?? Coddle your colon for 10 months out of the year, but when it’s hot and muggy in Georgia, and the homegrown tomatoes are coming in, slap that ‘mater on some Sunbeam bread.
Why die unfulfilled?
Bill
July 12th, 2009
1:05 am
White bread, mayo(Dukes or Blue Plate), salt, & homegrown ripe tomato=Summertime heaven. One of the true pleasures of summer. Its right up there with the first bushel of silver queen, catching fireflies with the kids, & wading out into the waves in Panama City Beach.
Lou
July 12th, 2009
1:54 am
Blue Plate–the full-bodied kind–is my favorite mayo for taste. Don’t know where it’s made–north or south. However, I now buy only Hellman’s Light, the only reduced calorie mayo I’ve ever bought that is fit to eat and that didn’t very soon end up in the glass recycle bin. It’s great on those tomato sandwiches with Publix’s White Mountain bread. You won’t believe the size of those bread slices!!
DBA
July 12th, 2009
3:20 am
I know it is comfort food, but I don’t get the fascination with cheap white bread….it isn’t about nutritional content….but why not an artisan bread with a little flavor?
DLR
July 12th, 2009
5:05 am
BIG BOY Tomato + Blue Plate Mayo + Fresh soft home made white bread + Salt + Pepper. Glass of sweet tea. For dessert make another one. Nothing more needed.
Steve
July 12th, 2009
5:56 am
Forget the mayo.
Take your favorite bread add the tomatos.
Add some good bacon.
Add some good white cheese like Gruyer.
Butter the bread on the outsides and grill this.
You will smile!
fk
July 12th, 2009
7:17 am
Skip the bread and substitute cold pasta. Simple macaroni salad…with only tomatoes & mayo — a sprinkle of celery salt & pepper, of course. Always a hit.
Mary Cole
July 12th, 2009
7:30 am
biscuit with a slice of tomato in it is beeter than any pie
Tom
July 12th, 2009
7:34 am
Our version of this is instead of Mayo, use crushed avocado, put the sliced tomato on top, salt, black pepper, and a little tabasco……fantastic flavor!
M. Ward
July 12th, 2009
8:16 am
You are missing one critical condition of tomato sandwich eating. the kitchen sink. A truly southern tomato sandwich requires the critical placement of the eaters elbows on either side of the kitchen sink. Eat the sandwich over the sink, allowing juices to run down your chin and into the sink!!
Deborah Liberatore
July 12th, 2009
8:16 am
Adding some OLD BAY SEASONING is very good too,
Johnny
July 12th, 2009
8:45 am
I prefer Kraft mayo and I am glad you did not insult your sandwich with other ingredients. You can always add more things later if you want.
Some things you just don’t mess around with – you know what works, so why take a chance of disappointment or not being totally fulfilled with pleasure.
It is so simple I I grew up eating them but haven’t had one in 20+ years (marriage seems to sometimes removes simple pleasures).
Sine you have your white bread and mayo handy, try a scrambled egg sammich next. Lots of pepper.
suzy
July 12th, 2009
8:57 am
Whole wheat bread really does make a good tomato sandwich…to me white bread is too squishy…but I buy the whitewheat when my kids are visiting since they insist it’s better for a tomato sandwich. Duke’s mayo is the best, of course. Still waiting for my tomatoes to ripen in my backyard garden…love a plate of garden fresh sliced cucumbers that have been sprinkled with vinegar on the side.
southern
July 12th, 2009
9:06 am
oh please try a pineapple sandwich. I don’t know if its a southern thing but it is soooo good. sunbeam white bread, hellmans mayo and pineapples. mmmmmmmm
melissa's mom
July 12th, 2009
9:11 am
Suzy, I agree with you. White bread gets too soggy. Publix 100% whole wheat bread is very good and isn’t too heavy like some wheat breads. Any kind of mayo will do for me but I usually use Blue Plate with my home grown tomatoes.
One of our favorite summer meals is fried chicken with a tomato sandwich as a side dish. Makes a great picnic, too – not too messy.
Paddy
July 12th, 2009
9:17 am
The only mayo is Hellmann’s. Duke’s is too greesey or something. Ok I guess if you happen to be out of Hellmann’s. It is called Best Foods west of the Rockies. Think I will try the pineapple sandwich, sounds good.
Paddy
July 12th, 2009
9:28 am
Whole wheat, avacado and no mayo…you ain’t from around here are you, boy?
Noelle
July 12th, 2009
9:36 am
Sunbeam Giant bread + Hellman’s Light mayo build the perfect frame for many different delicious fillings. Tomato (with salt and pepper) is one of the best, but also try sliced banana; sliced pineapple; sliced cucumbers (with salt and pepper); or a Kraft single, sliced ham, and just a bit of mustard.
melissa's mom
July 12th, 2009
9:38 am
One more thing. John, of all the weird things you’ve written about that you’ve eaten, I can’t believe you’ve never had a ‘mater samich! Shameful! What about ‘nanner puddin’? It’s real goooood!
Yup, I said it!
July 12th, 2009
10:17 am
After reading this article and the comments, my curiosity was piqued! Immediately ran to Publix to grab the biggest beefsteak tomato I could find and a loaf of Cap’t John Derst bread (the best, IMO). Since I already had a jar of Hellmann’s and some salt & pepper here at the house I was on my way to finding out what all the hype is about.
Honestly, as I first timer-I was HOOKED!!! One of the best simple sandwiches I have ever tasted!! So good, I ate two of ‘em in one sitting (I’ll try that over the sink thing next time!)
Thanks for the tip!! Had my first ‘mater sammich, so now, I’m legit!! Bring on the VARSITY….
MrsA
July 12th, 2009
10:38 am
The summertime tomato sandwich is the reigning queen of Southern sandwiches. Ingredients in order of importance are: a LOCAL vine-ripened tomato (acidic variety preferred), good mayo (Duke’s, Hellman’s regular or light, Kraft, Blue Plate – I would add homemade, but there’s no quality control there and I haven’t tasted yours – I’ve tried all the rest), and a nice soft bread (white, Roman Meal, a biscuit, etc.). My daily dose yesterday was made with an heirloom tomato I BOUGHT (yessir, you CAN buy a good tomato) at the organic farmer’s market in downtown Decatur (Wednesday afternoons), Hellman’s light mayo, Pepperidge Farm dark pumpernickel bread, and coarse ground black pepper. (Salt would not have ruined it) It was delicious – because of the tomato!!! Within reason, changing the bread, changing the mayo would not have mattered; a tasteless, “factory produced” tomato would have mattered. In an off-season moment of desperation I have used grape tomatoes sliced in half and found the taste pretty good. I think the white bread thing is overrated – probably became tradition because it was the most readily available at the store for years. I do think the bread needs to be somewhat soft. I know, too much information; it’s the Southern way.
So on to the pineapple sandwich – another summertime, spend-the-day-at- the-pool Southern tradition. Drained, canned pineapple, soft bread, good mayo – easy lunchtime fare. I knew a south GA man who proudly took his two young sons to Athens for their first GA Bulldog football game. At halftime, he took them to the concession stand and asked them what they wanted. The younger son looked up at his dad and without hesitation said “A pineapple sandwich”.
tab
July 12th, 2009
10:48 am
Nothing like a mata samich!! Getting ready to have one for lunch!!yum!!yum!!yum
mas
July 12th, 2009
11:52 am
I was salivating when reading your description of making the sandwich. I have been eating these as long as I can remember (and that is a long,long,long time). I think I’ll get some tomatoes from the neighbor’s bush. Yum!!
Lisa
July 12th, 2009
11:54 am
I will try the pineapple sandwich too. I actually have some here.
Paddy
July 12th, 2009
12:30 pm
Marsi Thrash… your tomato pie is just like mine except I add crumbled, crisp bacon on top. Pineapple samich and tomato pie tonight for us.
Paddy
July 12th, 2009
12:42 pm
PS…if you are making tomato pie, be sure to put your tomatoes between a couple slices of paper towels. Drains the moisture and won’t get the pie crust soggy.
Marc
July 12th, 2009
12:49 pm
The arrogance of you Southerners
. What you don’t know is that there is no such thing as Southern food. I was born in Chicago and have been eating tomato sandwiches for as long as I can remember. What southern food is – is a subset of country food. My mom grew up on a farm in northern Ohio and the food she cooks and the food that my Grandmother cooked were – for the most part the same as what I’ve had in the south as “Southern Food” Some ingredients may change but not much else. So don’t go claiming the tomato sammich as your invention. 
james
July 12th, 2009
4:50 pm
well a good acid tomato make the sandwich with duke’s with black pepper and salt.give this try sometime fry green tomato and (if you can find it round ga) curtiss bologna fries or not either way is good.
james
July 12th, 2009
4:59 pm
i have been buying my good tomato( at fruit stand ) acworth ga they were from bainbridge ga. i do believe.i looking for some from wrens ga. we all wasted ours money buying tomatoes from supermarket.some look good but taste like water. no taste at all.
Marvin VR
July 12th, 2009
5:08 pm
That sandwich needs bacon, lettuce and some cheese to make it real good. Maybe a little mustard as well.
E
July 13th, 2009
12:00 am
Ah, tomato sandwiches. So glad you wrote this and that you finally understand the joys. I do have to say that this is probably the first time in the history of the world the tomato sandwich has been combined with a sentence like “The mayo and the anodyne bread put the sweetness and acid of the tomato in high relief with their richness and ballast. HA! Around here we just say “That’s real good!”
Good bread is required most of the time, but for this sandwich, the white, soft squishy stuff is the only way to go. Dukes or Blue Plate if you cant get Dukes, and I usually skip the salt and pepper but sometimes they are added.
And these comments….Pineapple sandwiches, scrambled egg sandwiches – oh my, memories of my childhood flooding back now!
Where is the best place to get produce in and around Atlanta? | Best Of The Big A
July 13th, 2009
7:30 am
[...] juicy beauty stars in a simple delicacy that is a highlight of the season. Check out this great Southern summertime treat that our food blogger John Kessler discovered in recent days. For those who’d rather let someone else prepare summer’s bounty, take a [...]
tc
July 13th, 2009
5:11 pm
Ok, the tomato and pineapple are good. But nothing bets a good old banana sandwich, mmmmmm! Add a little peanut butter and it’s even better.
Danno
July 13th, 2009
6:12 pm
I hate to say it but I long for the Jersey produce of my youth. I can’t compare Jersey tomatoes to Southern ones since I hated raw tomoatos as a kid(Strange for an Italian.) but I will swear by sweet white Jersey corn and those amazing peaches.
What do they do with all of those great Georgia peaches? Certainly they don’t send them to the grocery stores here. Maybe they send them to Jersey?
Angie
July 13th, 2009
10:28 pm
OMG – I had a craving for a “mater sammich” last night. So of course – I had two. You have to finish the tomato – it’s just the Southern Way… I may have another tomorrow : )
BShepC
July 14th, 2009
9:59 am
Ohhhh..I am so glad you have joined the rest of us. Tomato sandwiches are the best thing about summer in my opinion. Every summer I eat so many I get ulcers in my mouth. Totally worth it.
Melodie
July 14th, 2009
10:15 am
After a full day of eating “shower food” , the hostess and I settled in Saturday evening and had a tomato sammich right out of her garden- Sunbeam white bread, mayo , salt & pepper. The ONLY fancy item I added was some fresh basil, also out of her garden! I use Duke’s mayo because one of my old college roommates owns the stuff, so I feel loyalty to her family, but any good mayo will do.
Paula Massey
July 14th, 2009
1:30 pm
May I quietly, with some intimidation say, “If you don’t have white bread in the house, the sandwich would still be absolutely wonderful on WHEAT BREAD!” (SORRY!)
Stephanie
July 14th, 2009
4:20 pm
I am from georgia, lived here my whole life, and HATE tomatoes. Is that so wrong? My whole family eats them like one would eat an apple, On the other hand I refuse to even eat marinara sauce.
Stephanie
July 14th, 2009
4:24 pm
And I love Mary Kay Andrews!!!
bettyjoan
July 14th, 2009
5:31 pm
What a fantastic post, in honor of a fantastic sandwich. This is a beautiful example of food writing–so vivid and colorful, I could practically taste what you were eating. Bravo!
Bill
July 15th, 2009
10:27 am
Separately, the ingredients are bland. The magic comes in the fusion of fresh squishy white bread, mayo, vine ripened tomato, & salt. Maybe a little pepper but nothing else can be included & still be called a tomato sandwich. Other ingredients like cheese, bacon, wheat bread, etc. can produce a great sandwich but it has to be called something else.
John Kessler
July 15th, 2009
11:35 am
Thanks for all the comments, everyone! I’ll let you all know when I’m ready to break the pineapple barrier.
I also have to say we ran out of white bread, and the sandwich on whole grain wasn’t the same. Fiber can wait…
R.G. Mertlin
July 15th, 2009
11:44 am
I’m having a hard time with the comment about Ruskin tomatos. Any tomato grown in Florida south of soil that is the same as south Georgia’s tastes the same as store-bought in January.
Audrey
July 17th, 2009
11:45 am
WOW…it took some reading, but I finally found someone who knows the best mayo to use…BLUE PLATE… I am soon to be 53 yrs old and I have always used it….Had some fresh from the garden tomatoes last week and you can bet I had 2 sandwiches for dinner that night!! They are the best. Doesn’t matter who started eating them and where, they are just plain darn good!
Anne-Caroline Brown
July 20th, 2009
1:58 pm
If you want to try another terrific southern sandwich, and I mean really southern, try having a banana and Hellman’s mayonnaise sandwich, also on white bread. I know it sounds totally gross but don’t knock it till you try it! If you think about it, the concept of bananas is not totally foreign….. after all they are two of the major components of Waldorf Salad. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. I promise not to disappoint! PS Make sure you use a healthy amount of mayonnaise, i.e. don’t skimp.
Anne-Caroline Brown
July 20th, 2009
2:00 pm
meant to say the concept of bananas and mayonnaise is not a foreign concept….
I am full of unusual, offbeat southern food ideas. I am the one who submitted the Biscuits and Chocolate recipe for the Food Section a few years ago…. did you ever try that heavenly combo?
http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/food/stories/southernfood/2007/02/08/020807FDsouthern.html
Dash
July 20th, 2009
5:29 pm
After about 4 true to form Tomato Sandwiches, I was ready to try a slight variation. Same white bread, but Trader Joe’s Wasabi Mayo and a light drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar. Mmmmmmm
LFord
July 21st, 2009
1:42 pm
All these posts and not one suggesting Durkee’s Famous Sauce on one side!?
Dash
July 21st, 2009
2:17 pm
But, you’ve got to have bananas, mayo, AND peanut butter. Then just lay on the couch.
Dash
July 21st, 2009
2:24 pm
Banana and mayo WITH peanut butter.
Martha
July 21st, 2009
5:41 pm
You, my friend, are now a TRUE southerner!!
Stephanie
July 22nd, 2009
12:47 pm
Enter your comments here
Stephanie
July 22nd, 2009
12:55 pm
My whole childhood came back. Our fresh grown tomatoes shared liberally with our neighbors and plain white bread tomato sandwiches. No lettuce, no frills, no cheese (though we did cheat and add some sometimes). But definitely Hellman’s. Don’t think we had Dukes in upstate NY. My mom’s dill pickles were a nice extra. One of the great summer treats!! Now I have to make some here. How could I ever have forgotten! Thanks for the memories.
darrell simmons
July 23rd, 2009
6:28 am
while reading of tomato sandwiches (fantastic), one mentioned adding vidalia onion. no.
a great separate sandwich: same white bread, vidalia onion, dill chips and yellow mustard.
thanx.
Pippa
July 24th, 2009
12:48 pm
I’m so glad that you discovered what we Southerners know you’ve been missing, but next time try Blue Plate Mayonnaise. Ain’t nothin’ better!
Pippa
July 24th, 2009
1:08 pm
P.S.: I also highly recommend the pineapple sandwiches and the banana sandwiches. And you just MUST try fried GREEN tomatoes, if you haven’t already.
veronica jett
July 27th, 2009
2:28 am
OMG I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU THAT YOU HAVE HAD A TOMATOE SANDWHICH OMG IT IS THE BEST THING EVER TO BE HONEST I HAVE BEEN EATING THEM FROM A LITTLE CHILD AND NOW IM 20 AND MAYBE WITHIN THIS PAST YEAR I HAVE EATIN OVER 300 I EAT MAYBE FOUR A DAY AND MOST PEOPLE WOULD THINK THATS BAD BUT IT HAS ACTUALLY HELPED WITH MY HEALTH AND I FEEL LIKE I HAVE MORE ENERGY SO IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU *KEEP ON EATIN THEM* =)
Becky
July 27th, 2009
1:20 pm
Love the John Derst bread with tomato, Blue Plate Mayo, salt, pepper and sometimes a slice of onion on it..Add to this Lay’s regualr chips and a tall glass of cold milk..Doesn’t get any better than that..
Betsy D.
July 27th, 2009
3:01 pm
Bless your heart for having missed out for so long!
helen nita staros(fontsere)
July 29th, 2009
12:04 pm
brings back such wonderful memories of summer’s in decatur, ga!! mama bringing in a sack of fresh house grown tomatoes from my grandmother(mimi’s) backyard. and then asking out to my brother, myself and friends ,’who would like a tomato sandwhich for lunch’?!! they’re also great w/ HOMEmade sweet bread & butter pickles too! just pour a little juice at the end…prrrrfect! yum, yum, yummy!! =)
Paddy
July 31st, 2009
8:06 am
Blue Plate mayo??? Why not just put Miracle Whip on it also then throw it in the trash can. Hellmann’s folks, Hellmann’s.
Patricia
August 12th, 2009
12:17 pm
It is Duke’s all the way!! My husband loves a slice of VIDALIA onion on his tomato sandwich. If the bread does not stick to the top of your mouth, then you are definitely using the wrong type of bread!
Laurie
August 14th, 2009
1:39 pm
My name is Laurie. And I am addicted to Tomato Sandwiches. Found this post after googling “Tomato Sandwich Addiction,” which I did after polishing off two in a row and debating having a third. I believe one summer you’ll find me face down in a gutter with a jar of Hellmans in one hand, a loaf of Pepperidge Farm White Sandwich bread in the other, and tomato juice dribbling down my chin. I like Hellmans – it’s what I grew up with in Jersey. Also, the PF white bread is firmer than wonder and not as stick-to-your-mouth. I don’t use pepper, b/c I never did growing up – didn’t like it then. But a good sprinkling of salt. Don’t put away the ingredients either, b/c sure as heck you’re going to want another when you finish the first. I get my tomatoes now from an organic CSA in virginia. This is the second week they’ve had full-size ones in the bag, and I think I may have eaten 10 tomato sandwiches in as many days. The kids don’t understand why we keep running out of white bread (normally, I only eat whole grain, but a tomato sandwich requires white bread). I have always felt a little guilty about the white bread thing – but it just tastes so right with the tomato and mayo….and to find that so many other people feel the same way! And how fanatical people are about their other ingredients. anyway – enjoyed reading this page.
Jennifer
August 19th, 2009
12:54 pm
Nope, Blue Plate mayo rules. Raised up with it, my grandfather bought nothing but Blue Plate. My mouth is watering..hankering for a ‘mater sandwich!
Lynn
August 19th, 2009
7:43 pm
Holy is the right word…the holy trinity of the south…white bread, mayo and fresh picked, juicy tomatoes. I’ve tried all kinds of mayo and I honestly don’t think the kind matters but you must have white bread. To keep it from getting soggy, eat it as soon as you make the sandwich…believe me, it won’t last long enough to get soggy! Ummmm, my mouth is watering….
Claudia
August 24th, 2009
11:31 am
Now, in Brooklyn in the 1950s, the ONLY bread used for a tomato sandwich was good Jewish Rye Bread. Didn’t matter if you were Sicilian or English. Rye bread was the way to go. With Hellmans. And yes, we did have fresh tomatoes, off the vine, straight from the backyard garden. It didn’t matter how small the yard was, if you were Italian, you grew tomatoes. Or, in my father’s case, Dutch.
Sam888
August 24th, 2009
1:01 pm
At least we can all agree on mayo, if not which mayo. Miracle Whip is just disgusting on anything, but on a tomato sandwich, it’s a crime against humanity.
Regina
December 15th, 2009
11:35 am
I don’t know how I stumbled across the article, but I’m glad I did. I’m a GA native and until now I didn’t think of eating a tomatoe sandwich, but they are pretty good. I just used what I had in the fridge, some left over garlic bread, a few slices of tomatoe, and some hellman’s. It was really awesome, probably my favorite sandwich, well maybe after a french dip.
Charlotte Poole Harrell
February 12th, 2010
5:16 am
I found this site just googling my sister helen’s name, and found my niece, Nita helen Fontsere. Those huge, home-grown summer tomatoes in her grandmother’s, my mother’s garden–oh my, I had the privilege. They were large, satiny, golden/green as much as red on the outside, but a deep, wine-red inside, and big as your open hand. They shivered as Mama sliced them thick onto white bread (there’s another kind?) and salted and peppered them with her dainty touch. Yes, the ultimate they were, just like that. However, if she happened to have slices of a honey-baked ham in summer, she might stop ever-too-busy me for lunch–and add to the famous tomato sandwich– slices of the tenderest ham. She’d watch me enjoy this, her big blue eyes shining, and a little smirk on her face at seeing me descend to earthly delights from my busy writing and drawing, in the coziness of her home.
Jimmy Goad
May 26th, 2010
10:58 am
I like JFG Mayo, but Blue Plate is good also. Mayo, white bread, salt and pepper. Adding anything else, then it aint a mater samich.
Jimmy Goad
May 26th, 2010
11:01 am
I like banana samiches also. White bread, banana, mayo.MMMMMMMMM
Lonnie Gilbert
June 30th, 2010
9:45 am
Delicious sandwich. I am a chef who was born and raised in upstate South Carolina. For the sandwich to be truly authentic, you must use Duke’s mayo and Bunny bread. The sandwich is also best eaten standing over a sink with your sleeves rolled up past your elbows so the juice can run down your arms into the sink.
chaun
July 30th, 2010
5:11 pm
try putting honey mustard, oinones n pepper on it too
Farmer Don Says STOP Watering Your Tomatoes | Willamette Week | Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
August 11th, 2010
3:31 pm
[...] and scarf on Aug. 11, I suspect other gardeners in Portland are experiencing the same cruel, tomato-sandwich-delaying fate. So I called Farmer Don Kruger (did you know the man has a blog?) over at Kruger’s Farm [...]
on thursdays i make lunch: my first tomato sandwich : allison's alliterative adventures
September 9th, 2010
2:34 pm
[...] love those fruits, especially warm from the sun, just plucked. one day i heard about the mythical Tomato Sandwich. white bread, mayo, sun-warmed tomatoes, salt and pepper. but i just couldn’t buy a loaf [...]