A Literary Feast: Recreating 10 Fictional Meals in Brooklyn
The next morning Mrs. Welsch asked, “Wouldn’t you like to try a ham sandwich, or egg salad, or peanut butter?” Her mother looked quizzically at Harriet while the cook stood next to the table looking enraged.
“Tomato,” said Harriet, not even bothering to look up from the book she was reading.
Harriet’s tomato sandwiches are the single food that has stayed with me over the years that I routinely make on my own. And, in fact, I can’t even in good faith recommend that you buy a tomato sandwich anywhere, because the only way to do Harriet’s sandwich justice is to make it yourself. Just be sure to make it with the best possible ingredients. So, get yourself over to Runner & Stone and buy one of the amazing loaves of bread they make in-house, and make your own tomato sandwich. Just make sure to get the best tomato you can find (it’s the perfect time of year for this) and either Hellman’s or Kewpie mayonnaise. A sprinkling of salt and a few grinds of cracked black pepper will boost this simple sandwich to something otherworldly. If you do want to try a riff on this sandwich, though, (Harriet would surely disapprove, but whatever, she’s not real) you can still enjoy the wonderful bread at Runner & Stone and try the tomato sandwich there. Well, technically it’s a mackerel sandwich with tomato and shallot on a baguette, but what it also technically is, is completely loaded with umami and utterly addictive. So even though Harriet would probably turn up her nose, what does she know anyway? She’s just a kid. You’re an adult. Eat the mackerel sandwich. Yum.
Runner & Stone; 285 3rd Avenue, Gowanus