THE TOMATO SPEAKS

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Frankly, you haven’t experienced summer until tomato juice is dripping down your chin, according to local fresh-tomato cultists. First, find a totally ripe, field-grown tomato, not some crunchy little, toosweet grape variety. Sink your teeth into that Beefsteak and slurp. For the second bite, sprinkle the tomato with good flaky salt. Inhale the aroma. Wipe off your chin.

Once upon a time the French called the tomato pomme d’amour, or “love apple,” believing it to be an aphrodisiac. Whether they work romantically, once you taste a truly great summer fruit, you’ll experience tomato lust.

Steve Redzikowski thought he knew what tomatoes taste like when he arrived in Colorado about 15 years ago.

“I had eaten a lot of tomatoes in New York. I got here and tasted some heirloom tomatoes from Red Wagon Farm. It was a whole different level of tomato and took me by surprise,” says Redzikowski, chef-owner of Boulder’s OAK at Fourteenth and Brider in Denver.

The cook’s passion for tomatoes grew to the point that he started presenting a tomato dinner at OAK every August featuring local field varieties in every course, paired with wines.

The menu for this year’s tomato dinner on Aug. 22 includes tomato watermelon gazpacho, stuffed pasta in tomato broth and halibut with tomato tamales. Dessert is a tomato ricotta cheese tart with peach ice cream. Each course — cooked by a different OAK chef — showcases heirloom tomato varieties grown nearby at Speedwell Farms and Red Wagon Farm.

“We try to let the tomato speak for itself,” Redzikowski says. “Some are sweet, some savory, in different shapes and colors. Some are better for making sauces.”

Red Wagon Farm grows the Steverino, a red hybrid tomato, named to honor Redzikowski.

The chef recommends biting into a great tomato sprinkled with furikake, a Japanese seasoning combining sesame seeds, dried fish flakes, nori seaweed and sometimes salt, sugar and chile flakes.

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR TOMATOES?

It turns out there are as many favorite ways to enjoy fresh local tomatoes as there are tomato lovers.

Several friends we queried said: “Keep it simple.” They were raised walking into the garden, salt shaker in hand, until a choice fruit was found.

Denver-based writer Gil Asakawa grew up in Hokkaido, Japan, where the local tradition was to treat tomatoes as a fruit. “My mom’s way of serving fresh tomatoes was to slice them and sprinkle with sugar,” Asakawa says. “Now, I like slices with a dip of Kewpie Mayonnaise and shoyu soy sauce.”

Other fans insist on thick tomato slices enhanced with various combinations of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic reduction, kosher salt, ground pepper or fresh chopped basil.

Add slices of mozzarella and you have another classic: Caprese salad. Chef Dan Asher of Boulder’s River and Woods recommends upgrading the Caprese with home-stretched mozzarella. “It tastes so much fresher and it’s really not hard to make,” he says.

The Sandwich Debate

Many folks we queried voted for a tomato sandwich, using “good” bread, thick slices, mayo, salt and pepper. There seems to be a sharp debate whether Best Foods, Kewpie, Blue Plate or Duke’s mayo is the ideal spread. Purists suggest only scratchmade mayo will do. Grey Poupon, Miracle Whip and horseradish sauce were also suggested.

The tomato sandwich bread of choice may be sourdough or whole grain. Toasting or grilling gets the nod for flavor and texture while keeping the sandwich from getting soggy. Naturally, the quintessential cold tomato sandwich variation is the BLT, with or without avocado (that’s a BLAT). Some like it hot, as in a grilled or pressed cheese sandwich middled by a thick slice of tomato.

From Panzanella To Pie

A number of the other easy ways to eat tomatoes involve many of the same ingredients.

Tuscan Panzanella is basically a tomato sandwich salad. To make it, toss tomato chunks, basil, salt, lightly toasted bread cubes and a simple vinaigrette.

Bruschetta is an open-face toast and a great vehicle for tomatoes. It’s best buttered and grilled and crowned with tomato slices and chopped herbs.

Tomato pie comes in two models. Southern tomato pie layers slices in a deep-dish crust topped with cheese and other ingredients. Tomato slices can also cover fresh pizza dough instead of sauce, along with olive oil, garlic, shredded cheese and herbs.

Tomato Days Are Waning

As the season winds down too fast, buy all the tomatoes you can from local farmers. Excess or overripe tomatoes can easily be blended into a beautiful cool gazpacho soup. They also can be roasted (or smoked) and turned into salsa, sauce or pico de gallo. You can even freeze whole Romas, Green Zebras and San Marzanos to use in sauces this fall.