WILKES-BARRE — The 41st annual Pittston Tomato festival is over and another successful event it surely was.
Congratulations to Mayor Mike Lombardo and the entire committee for another awesome event.
Celebrating the tomato has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember and to create a festival in its honor was simply a genius idea.
Most of us love tomatoes and how they are used in so many different recipes. I mean tomatoes are the heart of pasta, pizza, tomato juice, salads and, my favorite, the tomato sandwich.
Back in the day, mom would ask me everyday what I wanted for lunch and my answer would be, “Just make me a sandwich.”
Just a sandwich? Hardly.
There is something very special about a sandwich — any sandwich — that goes way beyond some deli meat and cheese placed between two slices of bread.
The sandwich variations are endless —and, usually, absolutely delicious.
So, where did the idea for a sandwich come from? It’s got to be one of humankind’s greatest inventions — right up there with the television, the automobile, slip-on shoes and baseball.
So who invented the sandwich?
Well, research took me way back to the year 1762 and a guy named John Montagu, who had the prestigious title of the “Earl of Sandwich.” Seems that The Earl was playing cards with his pals and he got hungry. The Earl didn’t want to leave the card table, but he wanted to eat.
Being an Earl and considering all that went with that title, he asked for a serving of roast beef to be placed between two slices of bread so he could eat it with his hands.
So, in 1762, John Montagu — the 4th Earl of Sandwich — invented the meal that changed dining forever. And from that humble beginning, born out of a desire to keep playing cards while satisfying hunger pangs, civilization was given a gift that keeps on giving — the sandwich.
I have had my share of sandwiches over the years and I can tell you that I have rarely been disappointed. And I have my favorites, for sure.
I really enjoy a BLT — bacon, lettuce and tomato — with mayo and salt and pepper. That’s a sandwich that’s hard to beat.
But the homegrown tomato on rye with mayo and salt and pepper is a close second.
And there really is something very special about a fried baloney sandwich with some onion and ketchup and melted cheese. Update: I recently have been making my baloney sandwiches with a sweet mustard and mayo — delicious!
I could go on and talk about the virtues of many sandwiches — club sandwich, tuna, veggie, grilled cheese and tomato, cheesesteak — yes it qualifies — Reuben, French dip, meatball, ham and Swiss cheese, peanut butter and jelly, chicken salad, salami and provolone, oval spiced ham, and turkey — include the Thanksgiving version that includes stuffing, cole slaw, cranberry sauce and gravy — and so many more.
My dad loved sardine sandwiches with onion and ketchup and salt and pepper — that is one I will pass on. But I have made myself an onion sandwich, sometimes adding bread and butter pickles and salt and pepper with butter on lightly toasted bread.
The essence of sandwiches is that they can be constructed any way you like and enjoy.
Now, who among you dares to dunk your sandwich? That’s right, dunking — in tomato soup, or in coffee or tea?
I do — I’m a dunk-a-holic.
I have dunked almost every type of sandwich in any of the three liquids listed above. Yes, I have dunked my tuna sandwich in soup, coffee and tea. And it is always delicious.
I remember many lunches from my grade school days throughout adulthood, where I have consciously decided that I would make a sandwich and dunk it in tomato soup or coffee or tea.
Every Thursday I try to get to the Farmers Market on Public Square to buy some fresh, homegrown tomatoes.
I consider a fresh tomato sandwich a delicacy — those juicy red tomatoes between two slices of soft white bread, delicately painted with some mayonnaise, maybe a slice of raw onion added. Add some salt and pepper and a pickle on the side with a glass of whole milk. Like I said, a delicacy.
Simpler times, for sure.
We are lucky to go to an event like the Farmers Market and recall how it was when people like Joe Wende drove his flatbed truck filled with fresh produce through the neighborhood.
The Pittston Tomato Festival celebrates more than just a tomato. It celebrates where we came from, what we learned and where we are today — still enjoying those tomato sandwiches and tomato sauces and the way our mothers and grandmothers made them.
Memories are what we must never lose if we are to be eternally happy.
The post Beyond the Byline: Celebrating the tomato and our past appeared first on Times Leader.