A recent Drew Magary post on Deadspin calls for the abolition of tomatoes in sandwiches, saying, "The deli meat should really be the hero of this dish, and the tomato, which wasn't even in your mystery basket, monopolizes it. Plus they always fall out of the sandwich, which is annoying."

Mr. Magary's concerns are valid, but his solution is draconian. Tomatoes have risk, but can also provide great reward when handled properly.

Let's take these arguments in order. First off all, if your sandwich is being dominated by tomato, then it's been constructed with poor ratios. I suggest you blame the sandwich's architect, not the overabundant ingredient. Doing otherwise is like saying that the skyscraper you built out of glass has too much light, then blaming the sun.

As to the second concern, as discussed in our Sandwich Science episode with guest Robert Krulwich, one must take care with slippery sandwich accompaniments like tomatoes and cucumbers. (This is where the Sliced Cucumber Conundrum comes in.) Tomatoes can be a wonderful sandwich ingredient, not only because of their flavor, but also because they bring juice, which, when properly controlled, is an asset.

How do you properly control it?

Well, by carefully considering the type of bread you select, the other ingredients you include, and the tomato's placement therein. Keep the tomatoes away from other slippery ingredients, and in close proximity to ingredients that can check motion. Never place tomatoes against cucumbers. Employ dry greens with a high surface-area-to-volume ratio to create friction. Bread with softer, doughier interiors also work well, because the tomato will embed itself into the bread's bosom and become immobilized. /dan

Photo: Flickr CC / dichohecho