The Perfect BLT

A BLT is not really about the bacon. It is about the tomato. The bacon and lettuce and mayo are there to support a tomato so ripe it is almost impossible to transport, the kind that smells like summer and yields to a gentle squeeze and tastes like the sun that grew it.

This sandwich makes sense for about six weeks a year, when local tomatoes are heavy on the vine and warm from the field. The rest of the year, do not bother. A pale, mealy supermarket tomato cannot be saved by bacon, no matter how good the bacon is. Wait for the real thing.

When the moment arrives, do very little. Thick slices of tomato. A generous pinch of salt to draw out the juices. Good bread that can stand up to all that moisture without collapsing. Bacon cooked slowly until the fat renders and the edges crisp. Homemade mayo takes five minutes and makes everything else taste better. That is the whole thing. You are not building a complicated sandwich. You are honoring an ingredient at its peak.