The South’s long hot summers are to blame for our love affair of the tomato sandwich. Tomatoes thrive in the heat, and I for one, wait all year long for that first perfect ripe southern bite. When I see the colorful varieties in the farmer’s market in June, it’s the same electric euphoria I feel when hearing the first “Jingle Bells” at Christmas. I get giddy with excitement, and Skeeter at Lee’s Produce is my summertime Santa. And if you ask a South Carolinian if summer has a taste, the collective answer would be a juicy red tomato, slathered with Duke’s mayo, and smashed between two slices of doughy Sunbeam bread. It is a trifecta of taste bud excellence; the ultimate comfort meal and a true working man’s sandwich. If it had been an option in college, I would have majored in Southern Folklore with a concentration in tomatoes and a minor in Duke’s mayo. It turns out having a grandfather who was a tomato whisperer and would make us sandwiches during his garden lunchbreak, was all the education I needed.
The sandwich’s ubiquity has made it the subject of perpetual reinterpretation and widespread additions over the years – toasted brioche, bacon jam, sprouts, avocado, fried egg, basil, seafood, flavored mayo – the list is infinite. Living with a husband whose kryptonite is tomatoes, I must be very thoughtful when planning dinner around it. Bacon is usually the bridge that connects our two palettes together. Today I served make-your-own BLT sandwiches for a small group of friends before heading to the beach. Toasted bread, grilled romaine, bacon, and heirloom tomatoes is a perfect combo of salty and sweet, soft and crunch, and the Duke’s homemade sauce is the glue that holds it all together.
I recently learned that a man in Bessemer, NC publicly declared his final wish was to be cremated and buried in a Duke’s mayo jar. While I didn’t expect David to eat any of the tomatoes (he ate a green and yellow – his first tomato on a sandwich ever – and he liked it!), we now share a passion, not only for mayo, but afterlife goals, too! However, David and I are requesting to be buried in the Duke’s jar together.
