paneer con tomate, almost poetic, best thing to eat when it's hot.
Summer in Los Angeles, and the box grater, which I hang on an S hook with my pots and pans, gradually becomes my most precious kitchen tool. Not a knife, not a fancy pan, not a gadget I ogled in someone else’s kitchen, just that plain steel box grater with the horribly sharp handle that digs into my hand if I grip it too tightly, leaving a mark. But until tomato season ends, I grate every tomato I can: the bumped and bruised beefsteaks, half off at the grocery store, and the delicate heirlooms warmed by the sun at the farmers’ market. The ones I forget about and find again on the counter, soft, obscenely juicy and threatening to leak. The dark, almost purple tomatoes that ripen in my backyard — if I can get to them before the squirrels and the birds. At the grater, every tomato is the same: I make it a game to not waste a single bit of meat, to push my palm right against the metal and get down to a fine, translucent skin that curls at the edges.
The seeds and the juice run together, and even a slightly grainy tomato can be saved like this, its texture redeemed. With the tines of a fork laid flat, I stir in some salt, pepper and olive oil, and taste. Some very boring tomatoes will need a splash of vinegar, or maybe even a pinch of sugar, but most will surprise me, becoming absolutely drinkable. And there’s nothing wrong with drinking them, just like this.
But if I can resist, then that mix of seasoned, grated tomato, on a piece of nicely browned bread rubbed with a raw garlic clove, is a deservedly famous snack in Spain — pan con tomate. It’s the best thing to eat when it’s hot, and not just as a snack. I’ve found it’s also a meal, if I simply make enough of it. I let the extra oil and vinegar drip off a few fat, pickled white anchovies, if I have them, and lay those on top too. >>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/magazine/tomatoes-paneer-recipe.html?
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