This blog was originally created to pass on our knowledge and recipes to our NextGens.
At least for the time being, they’re students, and ideas for sandwiches go down very well with them.
In this short post, we’d like to draw your attention to a sandwich we read about in the New York Times. A tomato sandwich – so far, so ordinary. But combined with furikake, and that’s brilliant.
Tomatoes, especially very good ones or those that have been treated very well, are rich in umami – the fifth taste that humans perceive, alongside sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Furikake is a dry seasoning mix developed in Japan by a chemist at the start of the 20th century, which is absolutely brimming with umami. The combination therefore enhances this distinctive flavour.
You can buy furikake – or make it yourself, as we’ve explained here. That’s why we always have our own mixture at home.
All you need now is some mayonnaise. You can buy it, of course, but nothing beats homemade. You can find a simple recipe for it here.
We recommend a very ripe but still firm beefsteak tomato. We cut it into thick slices, one centimetre wide, and lightly sprinkle both sides with a little salt and icing sugar to bring out its flavour.
Sandwich bread is the right choice. It’s available as plain white bread, but we prefer wholemeal. You can use it as it is when it’s very soft, but we think toasting it is much better. It adds more flavour, but above all, it improves the texture. We toast the slices until they’re golden brown, then we deliberately leave them on a wire rack for 10 minutes so that they dry out a bit.
Only then do we spread a generous amount of mayonnaise over them and sprinkle a healthy dose of furikake on top as well.
Then you need to work quickly so the bread doesn’t get soggy. Top with plenty of tomato, fold the sandwich closed and cut it into triangles. Cut it once for large pieces that you eat with both hands – or cut it a second time for small triangles that you can serve with an aperitif. You can never go wrong with extra mayonnaise and extra furikake. For example, you could serve both in small cups for dipping.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Homemade mayonnaise:
1 egg yolk
½ tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp salt
2 tsp lemon juice
140 ml neutral vegetable oil
2 tsp furikake per sandwich
Toasted sandwich bread
Oxheart tomato
Salt
Icing sugar
