The Best Type Of Bread For A Tomato Sandwich

Summer is coming to an end, so now's the time to use up summer's freshest produce. Peak tomato season is during the summer, and there are endless ways to use juicy fruit. Fresh tomatoes make a great base for Caprese salads, gazpacho, and can even be canned to eat for the winter season. But one of the easiest ways to use fresh, ripe tomatoes is in a sandwich.

The humble tomato sandwich is deceptively easy to make. It requires bread, mayonnaise, sliced tomatoes, salt, and pepper. While this seems pretty straightforward, the ingredients are everything when making such a simple sandwich. For example, the ideal tomato is of the beefsteak variety and even better if it's an heirloom. It should be ripe, but not overly ripe to the point of being mushy. Plain mayonnaise is the only sauce for the sandwich, so higher quality mayo will make a difference. It's also important that the mayo is spread evenly on both sides of the bread (per Southern Living).

One of the most crucial components of the sandwich, however, is the bread. To make the perfect tomato sandwich, it's not simply about choosing your favorite loaf.

When it comes to choosing bread for a tomato sandwich, you want a piece that doesn't take away from the tomato's natural flavor and texture. According to Southern Living, you want to choose "the thickest, whitest sandwich bread you can find." While many people enjoy heavily seeded bread or crusty French loaves, this is not the type of sandwich that requires heartier bread. Classic white bread, like Wonderbread or Sunbeam, is the best choice. If you really want to elevate your humble sandwich, Southern Living suggests using the Homestyle White Bread from Publix market and Taste of Home adds that anything "soft and fluffy white" is ideal.

Once you have the perfect bread for the tomato sandwich, you need to decide how to serve it. People seem to be firmly in either the un-toasted or toasted camp. It's fair to say that it's a matter of personal preference as to whether you toast it or not. Because fresh tomatoes are extremely juicy, there is a risk that an un-toasted sandwich will be soggy. On the flip side, some people prefer the juices dripping down their chin when enjoying a non-toasted tomato sandwich.

The only way you'll know which side you're on is to whip one up yourself.