Tomato + umami

Best thing ever, or gilding the lily?

Happy Friday, seasonal-produce-loving cook!

When I was small, my mom picked up a ripe tomato acquired that morning at a nearby farm stand, and — standing at the kitchen sink — took a bite. She sprinkled a little salt on its now-exposed flesh before taking the next bite, and the next, and the next. Tomato gone. Bliss on my mom’s face. That was the most important lesson I’d ever learn about summer produce.

This was in the mid-1960s, in a San Fernando Valley suburb of Los Angeles, Van Nuys. Farmers markets hadn’t yet taken hold of the Southland, but there were occasional farm stands scattered throughout the big valley. Ours, which we called “the corn stand,” was not far from the Sepulveda Dam, near Balboa Park. The way I remember it it was kind of a summer pop-up, bursting with stone fruits, corn. zucchini and yes, glorious tomatoes.

In those days, most Americans didn’t know how to zhuzzh ingredients just enough to make them sing and set them confidently on the table. The only basil in our …