SAVOUR SANDWICHES, SOUPS, SALSA

How to pick a good tomato (and salvage a bad one)

- GENEVIEVE KO

Long before Suzanne Cupps knew she wanted to be a chef, she knew she loved tomato sandwiches.

Throughout her childhood summers, she would visit her grandfather on his central Pennsylvania farm, where he would press thick slices of ripe tomatoes, still fragrant from the vine, between white bread slathered with mayonnaise. He made that sandwich every day before lunch and before dinner, just for her, because it was her favourite.

It remains a favourite even as she has created countless tomato dishes in her work, and now as chef of her own restaurant, Lola's, in New York City. Cupps works closely with farmers to get the tastiest fruit but recognises that most home cooks don’t have that option. And, even for those who grow their own, some seasons yield better fruit than others.