My first real score of the season- a bowl of cherries, almost, and thats cherry tomatoes with plenty still on the vine. I'm never completely sure about cherry tomatoes- I love how they look but I don't know if I prefer a big slice as opposed to the flavor pop of them whole. Strangely I don't like them cut either- it sort of loses the point. While waiting for the train back to New York I snacked on a couple and it seemed almost the perfect thing to do with them. Nevertheless they are my first bounty and I want to eat them fairly simply with just oil and vinegar perhaps but maybe not that simply so I decide on a little maceration. I learnt to macerate a little chopped shallots in balsamic vinegar to spark up a dressing a while ago, thanks to Alice Waters and I decided to use the basil blossoms that I trimmed off along with some sliced garlic to do the same with my olive oil. That was yesterday. Today I had half of them for lunch with some Pita bread-perfection-the basil flowers gave the oil a little extra pungency that worked really well.
