Photo: Claire Lower
Tomatoes are my favorite summer fruit, quickly followed by peaches. The former gets used in mostly savory applications, while the latter is relegated to the world of desserts. But peaches are more versatile than you think. Just like a tomato, they’re comfortable with a little burrata and basil, and equally at home sandwiched between two pieces of bread with bacon and lettuce.
Peaches are, obviously, sweeter than tomatoes. They don’t contain as much acid, nor are they packed with savory glutamates, but they’re juicy, fruity, a little tangy, and they play nicely with salty, crispy bacon. Fruit and cured pork are historically, famously well-matched, whether you’re talking about a paper-thin piece of prosciutto wrapped around a chunk of ripe melon (or pineapple), or a cheese-stuffed date surrounded by crispy bacon. The BLP falls into that same genre, and it is delicious.
The best mayo for your BLPs, BLTs, and any other sandwich you make this summer:
Making a BLP is just as easy as making a BLT. Toast some bread, swipe on some mayo, cook some bacon (maybe make a bacon patty), and slice your peaches. Shingle the peach slices on the bottom piece of bread, then add bacon and lettuce and close it up. The cool crunch of the lettuce brings out some of the warmer, honey-sweet notes in the peach, and the bacon and toasted bread provide much-needed crunch. As for the mayo, it works just fine, and provides a tiny bit of tang while keeping things nice and lubricated. If you want to get wild with it, try a little freshly ground black pepper, or a drizzle of hot honey. Neither are traditional on a BLT, but the BLP is not for those who adhere strictly the rules of yesteryear. (The BLP is for the brave, the bold, and the sexy.)
