BLT sandwich

America's most beloved sandwich: crisp smoked bacon, ripe tomato slices, crunchy iceberg lettuce and mayonnaise between toasted white bread: the mid-century American classic whose perfection depends entirely on the quality of the tomato

Origin: United States

From the journey of Tomato.

The BLT, Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, is one of the defining American sandwiches, and its history is intertwined with the commercial development of American food culture in the 20th century. The sandwich appears in cookbooks from the 1920s and 1930s, though the 'BLT' abbreviation becomes common in American diners and lunch counters only in the 1950s, alongside the growth of American diner culture. The BLT is the product of several specifically American developments: the industrial bacon strip (uniformly sliced, reliably smoked, available year-round); the iceberg lettuce (developed for its ability to survive coast-to-coast rail shipping with its crunch intact; its flavour was always secondary to its texture); the commercially available sliced white bread (Wonder Bread launched in 1921); and Hellmann's mayonnaise (launched in New York in 1905 by Richard Hellmann). The tomato is the element that defines whether a BLT is worth eating. In summer, with a genuinely ripe, flavoursome tomato; a beefsteak or heirloom variety grown for taste rather than shipping; the BLT is transcendent: the warm bacon fat mingles with the tomato juice and the mayo into something close to perfect. In winter, with a pale, flavourless supermarket tomato, the sandwich is barely worth the bread. The BLT is a seasonal dish that most Americans eat year-round. It should only be made in summer.

Ingredients

Filling

8 rashers thick-cut smoked streaky bacon (the best quality you can find)
2 large very ripe beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes, sliced 8mm thick
4 large leaves iceberg lettuce, washed and dried (the crunch is the point)
4 tbsp good mayonnaise (Hellmann's is canonical; Japanese Kewpie is excellent)

Bread

4 slices good white sandwich bread, or brioche, or sourdough, toasted until golden and crunchy

Seasoning

flaky sea salt for the tomatoes
black pepper freshly ground, for the tomatoes

Method

Cook the bacon: place the rashers in a cold heavy pan and bring the heat up to medium. Cook slowly for 5–8 minutes, turning occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp and deeply browned; not merely limp and pink, but genuinely crisp. Transfer to kitchen paper to drain.
Toast the bread until deeply golden and crunchy; not just warm and soft. The toast needs to be rigid enough to support the filling without immediately becoming soggy from the tomato juice.
Season the tomato slices on both sides with flaky sea salt and black pepper immediately before assembly. Do not salt the tomatoes in advance; they will release their juice and become waterlogged.
Spread mayonnaise generously on both slices of toast. Build the sandwich: lettuce on the bottom slice (the mayo holds it in place), tomato slices on top of the lettuce, bacon on top of the tomato: this order ensures the bacon stays crisp by being furthest from the lettuce.
Press the top slice of toast firmly onto the bacon. Cut diagonally and serve immediately. The BLT waits for no one.

Notes

The quality of the tomato is the single variable that determines whether a BLT is extraordinary or mediocre. A July beefsteak tomato from a farmstand, sliced thick and barely salted, makes a BLT worth eating. A January supermarket tomato makes a BLT barely worth the bread. The BLT is a seasonal sandwich that should be made only in tomato season.

The Gastrographer

Name: BLT sandwich
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: United States
Ingredients: 8 rashers thick-cut smoked streaky bacon (the best quality you can find); 2 large very ripe beefsteak or heirloom tomatoes, sliced 8mm thick; 4 large leaves iceberg lettuce, washed and dried (the crunch is the point); 4 tbsp good mayonnaise (Hellmann's is canonical; Japanese Kewpie is excellent); 4 slices good white sandwich bread, or brioche, or sourdough, toasted until golden and crunchy; flaky sea salt for the tomatoes; black pepper freshly ground, for the tomatoes

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control