Tomato & Fetta thingo

Wow, my eloquence astounds me. But I'm not really sure what to call this without descending into menu-ese. This is something my godfather showed me years ago, one hot summer, explaining that it was a dish eaten in Greece when the weather is really hot. Although my godfather is from Rome, he was born in Egypt and has family living in Greece, so I trust his provenance on this! I imagine this sort of combintion of ingredients is pretty popular all around the Mediterranean and Middle-East.

This dish really only works when tomatoes are at their ripest and juiciest, and is just the sort of thing to eat under an umbrella on a balcony on a hot, sunny day. Get yourself some fetta cheese - we recommend Bulgarian fetta over any other type (including Greek) as it has a less aggressive flavour and creamier texture. It's not expensive. Don't even try the Aussie stuff sold in supermarkets that tastes of salt and has the texture of polystyrene. Before I store mine in the fridge, I drizzle it with olive oil to stop it going rancid too quickly.

So, mash up your fetta (as much as you want) with a fork in a bowl. Dice a ripe, red tomato into small bits and add to the fetta, along with a glug of olive oil and lots of freshly cracked black pepper and just mix it up. I always add some kind of herb too. I think I was first shown this using fresh basil, which is wonderful, but this time I used some home-dried oregano (dried by my godmother's Calabrian mum), which is more in keeping with the Greek idea of the thing. Anyway, I didn't have any basil.
I'm not so sure the Greeks serve this on top of toasted sourdough, but I guess they probably eat it with bread. It's best when the ingredients have come straight from the fridge in my opinion, as the chill is what you want on a hot day. I'm not so keen on it at warm, sloppy room temperature. Yes, perhaps it doesn't look so appetising, but the taste is just great. To my amazement even my brother, who just does not eat fresh tomato (yes, crazy!) really enjoyed it as well.