Raw Tomato Concassée

When ripe end-of-summer tomatoes are in season, the best way to prepare them and keep all their bright, natural flavor intact is to prepare a raw concassée. Raw tomato concassée can be served as a cold sauce for meats and fish or gently warmed and served with hot foods. Because raw tomato concassée is not strained, the tomatoes must be peeled and seeded before they are chopped. The best way to peel tomatoes is to plunge them in boiling water for 10 or 15 seconds (the exact amount of time depends on how ripe they are; the riper they are, the shorter the time) or, if only one or two tomatoes are involved, rotate them over a gas flame with a fork. Plunge the tomatoes immediately into cold water to prevent the pulp from cooking, and then pull off the peel with your fingers.