Juicy,
ripe tomatoes are one of the best parts of summer. For a few precious
months each year, tomatoes ripen naturally in the heat and star front
and center in a vast range of colors, shapes and sizes at farmers
markets. It’s a beautiful thing.
A
serrated knife, small or large, even not at its sharpest, will pierce
the tomato’s skin before the flesh, rather than both at the same
time. Perforating the skin first prevents the mashing of the flesh
and subsequent deluge of juices that make people without serrated
knives hate slicing tomatoes. We like ceramic knives, they tend to
stay sharper for longer and are lightweight, again, to prevent the
mangling of delicious tomato flesh.
To
core the tomato — remove the fibrous, un-tasty cone of flesh right
below the stem — before slicing you’ll still need a small, sharp
paring knife. Stick the tip of the knife in at an angle and saw
around the stem, then pop out the core and discard. Once the core’s
out, slice, dice, remove the seeds, keep them in, whatever you need
to do to get that fresh tomato off the cutting board and into a dish.