Tomatoes

When you’re making tomato soup, your approach and style should depend most of all on the quality of the tomatoes. When tomatoes are at their end-of-summer best, you don’t need to do much more than peel them, chop them, and sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper. The only accompaniment can be a slice or two of toasted French bread for occasional dipping and smearing.

Throughout the year and alas even at the end of summer, we rarely have access to perfect tomatoes. Even when bright red and at the height of the season, they are usually picked before fully ripened and have most likely been overwatered. Fortunately tomatoes adapt themselves well in the kitchen, and cooks have developed techniques to bring out and enhance their flavor. Usually the better the tomatoes, the less flavoring and manipulation they require; as we move away from perfection we need to toy with them more to make them interesting.