The Best of Both

by Nancy Vienneau

July 2012

Should we eat our tomato sandwich in the sweet Dixie style
A thick-sliced, lightly salted Brandywine,
Plopped open face,
let it soak into
Duke’s Mayo
slathered on soft white bread?

Or

Should we dream of Italy,
prepare our bread in the manner
of Chianti country
Bruschetta rubbed with garlic,
Adorned with tomatoes like jewels that
Glisten under a pour of fruity olive oil,
A frill of Genovese basil?

Or

What if we melded the best of both?
What if we took that mayo,
Whisked in a mince of garlic,
basil,
A thimble of Riserva oil
Ah,
That would be
very, very good
Wouldn’t it?

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Nancy Vienneau Nancy Vienneau is a “recovered” caterer turned food writer and activist, living in Nashville, Tennessee. Since selling her company in 2005, she works in her community promoting local farmers, urban gardens, healthy affordable cooking, and food security. Food is at the heart of her stories and poetry, the crux of her recipes and reviews. You can find her work in Alimentum - The Literature of Food, Relish Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, her weekly restaurant column in The Tennessean and her globally-read blog Good Food Matters

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