Tomatoes à l’Américaine

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp serrated tomato knife
• •Shallow nonreactive marinating dish, about 9 by 13 inches (23 by 33 cm)
• •Oval hors-d’œuvre platter, about 12 inches (30 cm)
• •Small offset spatula or thin fish slice

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the onion

   Peel the onion and cut it across the equator into rings no thicker than 1 to 2 mm. Separate the rings gently, keeping the neatest ones whole for the border, then cover them while you prepare the tomatoes. The onion stays raw, so fineness matters: a thick ring bullies the tomato, while a fine one gives crispness and a clean little bite.

2. 2

   Slice the tomatoes

   Remove the stems and any hard core, then slice the tomatoes crosswise about 3 mm thick with a sharp serrated knife. Keep the rounds as even and intact as you can. Lay them in one or two loose layers in a shallow nonreactive dish; do not heap them, because the slices underneath would take all the salt and collapse.

3. 3

   Begin the macération

   Season the tomatoes evenly with the salt and pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil, the chilled Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168), and the white wine vinegar, distributing the liquids across the whole dish rather than pouring them into one corner. Tilt the dish gently to move the seasoning underneath, then leave the tomatoes at cool room temperature for twenty minutes. Halfway through, spoon the collected juices over the top without stirring the fragile slices.

4. 4

   Compose the platter

   Lift the tomato slices onto an oval hors-d’œuvre platter, overlapping them in loose rows or concentric rings. If the marinating dish holds a lake of liquid, do not pour it all over and drown the plate. Ça se rattrape: whisk the juices briefly until the oil and tomato liquor turn cloudy, then spoon back only enough to leave every slice glossed. Arrange the fine onion rings around the outer border, exactly as the source directs.

5. 5

   Serve it cool

   Taste one tomato with a strand of onion and correct only if necessary with a pinch of salt or a few drops of vinegar. Serve at once, cool but not numbed by the refrigerator, while the tomato slices still hold their shape and the onion remains crisp. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose tomatoes that are ripe enough to smell of tomato at the stem but firm enough to slice cleanly. This dish truly needs the season. A good canned tomato belongs in many French pots, but it cannot stand in for a fresh tomato on this platter.
• •Use a mild oil. A forceful, peppery olive oil can cover the tomato and turn this into another salad entirely; the source asks the oil to carry flavour, not announce itself.
• •A small white onion gives the neatest rings and a clean bite. Slice it almost translucently and do not scatter it across the tomatoes: the border is part of the composition, not decoration added for sport.
• •The marinating juices are tomato, seasoning, and oil, not waste. Whisk any remainder and spoon it over bread, or save it for dressing another plain salad later the same day.

Advance Preparation

• •Prepare the Cooked Marinade for Venison (No. 168) through its own entry, strain it, and chill it completely before measuring the teaspoon needed here.
• •The onion rings can be cut up to four hours ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Slice and season the tomatoes only twenty minutes before arranging them; the timed macération is the dish and should not be stretched into an afternoon.
• •For a picnic, compose the salad no more than one hour before departure, cover it closely, and transport it cold. Let it stand out of the cooler for ten minutes before serving so the tomato regains its fragrance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 201g)