The Tomato Salad That Changed My Life

So simple ... and a beautiful, utterly French way to serve the year's best tomatoes.

On my first stay in France as a high school cultural exchange student, the maman of the family served me a tomato salad (alongside a thin flank steak and some fried potatoes). Though it looked so simple, I’d never really tasted anything like it before—it was the fines herbes* that widened the world for me. Indeed, I think it’s this salad that made me first realize—at the age of 16—that yes, French food really is all that.

No recipe needed.

Simply sprinkle sliced tomatoes with salt, pepper, fines herbs, and finely minced shallots, then drizzle with a top-quality olive oil and white-wine vinegar. Go easy on the vinegar; tomatoes are already acidic. This is a great salad for anything off the grill, by the way.

*Fines herbs: Finely diced fresh parsley, tarragon (or chervil if you ever can find it) and chives.