The best thing about the end of summer is the tomatoes. (The worst thing is that summer is ending, but I am not willing to go there yet.)
Back to tomatoes, and fattoush. Fattoush is a Lebanese salad made with a variety of raw vegetables and pita bread. Some believe fattoush must contain lettuce; others that the pita must be crisp. Many experts say neither of those is true, and I am with them.
This fattoush is a bit like the Italian bread salad panzanella, in that the bread is toasted or stale, but softened by the dressing and the juices of the vegetables. The resulting salty-acidic-sweet flavor and wonderful softened crispness of the pitas are like the supporting actor in a play who the critics keep talking about. The pita isn’t supposed to be the focus– certainly not when ripe, juicy summer tomatoes are around– but we can’t stop poking our fork around our dish, hoping to uncover yet another piece.
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