There is a stretch of summer, right about now, when a tomato needs nothing. No oven, no long simmer, no sauce to hide behind. A pinch of salt, a thread of olive oil, a torn basil leaf, and you have one of the great dishes of the world. Every Neapolitan family knows this moment, and so does every Maryland family with a tomato plant in the backyard. July is when both worlds agree.
The Tomato Came to Naples Late
It is hard to picture Italian cooking without the tomato, but for most of its history Naples cooked without one. The tomato arrived from the Americas in the 1500s and spent its first two centuries in Italy as a curiosity, something grown for its looks and eyed with suspicion at the table. Only in the 1700s did Neapolitan cooks start putting it on pasta, and once they did there was no going back.
What made Naples the tomato capital was the land. The volcanic soil around Vesuvius grows a plum tomato with thin skin, few seeds and a sweetness that balances its acid, and that tomato, the San Marzano, became the backbone of the Neapolitan kitchen. It is the sauce on a true pizza napoletana and the base of the sauces our family has made since 1999.
Why Summer Cooking Gets Simpler
Italians cook by the calendar, and the calendar in July says: get out of the way. The philosophy is sometimes called cucina povera, the cooking of people who had little money and had to make the most of what was ripe. When the tomatoes are this good, the most respectful thing a cook can do is keep the ingredient list short.
That is why the summer table in Campania leans toward dishes served cool or at room temperature: sliced tomatoes with mozzarella, bread rubbed with garlic and piled with tomato, a quick pan sauce that takes fifteen minutes instead of four hours. Heavy braises and baked pastas can wait for September. This is the season for freshness.
The Dishes We Reach for in July
A few things on our menu were made for this month.
- Margherita pizza. Fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil and San Marzano tomato sauce on our scratch-made dough. The story goes that it was created in Naples in 1889 for Queen Margherita, in the colors of the Italian flag. True or not, it is still the purest expression of a summer tomato.
- Mozzarella Caprese. Fresh mozzarella with balsamico and pesto. Cold, bright and gone in minutes at a table of four.
- Burrata. Mozzarella stuffed with ricotta, served with bruschetta and a balsamic glaze. Cut it open and let the center run into the tomatoes.
- Bruschetta pizza. Shredded and fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic and extra-virgin olive oil. Summer on a crust.
Pair any of them with a cold glass of white wine or a beer from the bar and you have dinner figured out.
Too Hot to Cook? Let Us
Nobody wants to stand over a stove when it is ninety degrees on Holabird Avenue. That is what we are here for. Dine in with the air conditioning doing its job, or order carry-out and have a Margherita waiting when you pull up. You can order online through Toast, or call us at (410) 633-7763. We are open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 am to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday until 10 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 9 pm.
Tomato season does not last. Come enjoy it with us while it is here.