This magic moment
and the tomato, corn and peach salad you’ll want to make again and again
August is a funny month, isn’t it? Steamy sultry heat but those already shorter nights hint at autumn ahead. Last chances for holidays, beach days, lazy reads, lake swims. Mosquitos, fireflies, butterflies. The weight of humidity and unexpected claps of thunder. It’s as if the earth is bursting at its seams, barely able to contain itself.
Welcome to the dog days of summer.
The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius (known colloquially as the "Dog Star"), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere - Wikipedia
Now is not the time for heavy meals and rich protein. Yes yes barbecue is fantastic, to be sure; just the smell of the smoke entices our taste buds. But at the height of the season, what we really crave, if we listen hard enough, is clean and pure and simple. Let every ingredient shine.
The alchemy of the seasons
Right now, the farmers’ markets are overflowing with everything I love: peaches and watermelon and eggplants and the first shell beans and tender lettuce and apricots and green beans and zucchini and corn and early apples and blueberries. I want to buy everything and at once, knowing also that I can’t possibly eat it all.
True alchemy, this. Because it’s not the casting of a single spell that produces all of this bounty. It’s the unpredictable rain, too much sun, not enough shade, pests that disrupt organic intent. And overseeing it all, the sorcerer’s hand, exerting just the right touch to make magic happen.
The tomato sorceress
To be sure, all the farmers at my market have that magic touch. Footsteps Organics and Marvellous Edibles and Sosnicki Organics and Bizjak Farms and Wooler Dale Farm amongst many. Braving not only the daily elements back home, but the bizarre and changing landscape of what a farmers’ market looks like during a pandemic.
I am so grateful for how their passion feeds us every week.
But perhaps most magical of all is a tiny sorceress I know. Barely five feet tall, with a home garden the size of an L-shaped postage stamp, Florinda is the tomato whisperer. She came to Canada from Portugal 50 years ago, with hopes and dreams and the most important thing of all - tomato seeds.
Carefully nurtured and tended, the progeny of those tomato seeds are alive and well. Never mind that this July was swimming with rain, and that the August sun has barely made up for lost time. While everyone else’s tomatoes are anemically tinged with red, Florinda’s tomatoes are ripe and red and bursting. It’s a special kind of blessing that we are the beneficiaries of her harvest.
The fifth season
“Sometimes, people have a tendency to complicate, because maybe they’re not sure it’s going to be good enough. But cooking simple is the best way to elevate the flavour of an ingredient. When it’s the top season for tomatoes, you cannot do better.”
I love living in a place with all of the seasons. And as my husband reminds me, I’m even luckier to live in a place with five seasons. Autumn, winter, spring, summer and the best season of all - tomato season.
If you’ll indulge me, for the next few weeks, while I revel in this all-too-fleeting magic moment, I’ll be sharing my favourite tomato recipes. But before I even begin, might I suggest you start with this “recipe”?
A tomato; sun-warmed from the garden at best, room temperature at least (never ever refrigerate these treasures!), cored and cut in half
Maldon or other delicious sea salt; freshly ground pepper optional
A delicate olive oil, not too grassy or green
Place the tomato on your prettiest plate. Sprinkle with just enough salt and a few grinds of pepper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil. If it’s a big and bursting tomato, use a knife and fork, otherwise pick up that beauty and take a big bite of summer.
This is my quintessential summer snack, usually done without the ceremony of a plate, or pepper or oil - just the tomato and salt, please. You can fancy it up if you like (or call it Tomato Croque Sel as Chef Eric Ripert does in his new cookbook, Vegetable Simple). Just remember this. When it’s January and howling cold outside, the seeds of that tomato will warm your insides until it’s tomato season again.
Tomato, corn and peach salad
serves 2 generously, or 4 as a side
When tomato season is here, there are three things I do immediately: eat a gorgeous tomato on its own with salt; make a thick toasted tomato sandwich, bacon preferred; and make this salad as the main attraction for lunch or dinner.
In this most bountiful of seasons, the trifecta of tomato, corn and peaches is pretty hard to beat. When else do we have three stellar ingredients all at peak perfection, at exactly the same time? But let the ingredients guide you. If the peaches are a bit too hard, sub in nectarines, or skip the stone fruit entirely. No good local corn to be had? Cucumbers will give it a crisp bright note. Want some protein? Feta adds a salty delicious touch.A friend wrote to tell me she made this recipe with basil and some grilled grass-fed beef strips.
Still, composed as written, this is one of those super simple dishes you’ll make again and again, until tomato season says goodbye. Seek out fresh marjoram. It’s the unsung herb of summer and makes all the difference.
Ingredients
1½ pounds (680 grams) juicy ripe tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 ears corn, cooked and cooled, kernels cut off and cobs discarded
2 peaches, peeled* and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram leaves
Maldon salt and freshly grated black pepper
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, more to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, more to taste
*peeling the peaches isn’t entirely necessary but it makes the salad even nicer
Place the tomatoes, corn kernels and peaches in a large serving bowl or platter. Combine gently with a large serving spoon. Add salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil to taste. Sprinkle the marjoram leaves on top, combine again and add more salt, pepper, vinegar and oil as desired. Serve immediately with crusty bread to sop up the juices.