This summer, we crammed in sun and sea and sand, ice cream and tomatoes and zucchini. We packed up and dropped off: first one child, then the other.

Leaving the house quiet. We looked at each other, puzzled. It had been 17 years since we’d been alone, together. We fled to Spain.

In Spain, we crammed in art and architecture and adventure. Soon we gave up on packing in and took up hanging out. We slept. We strolled. We sipped vermouth, with a cool breeze and warm guitar wafting over the rooftops.

We dined on fat chickpeas, tiny clams, hot sausage, thin ham. Every meal started with pa amb tomaquet — bread grilled golden and rubbed with fresh tomato. Pale, rosy, sweet.

We all came home flush with fresh stories and stale laundry. In the clamor, we toasted up a snack, and remembered the waiters rubbing tomato into bread, so strong, so serious about the art of letting go.

TOMATO BREAD

Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 2 minutes
Serves: All of Catalonia

Olive oil
Garlic
Baguette
Ripe tomato
Flaky salt, such as Maldon

Season: Pour olive oil into a small bowl. Slice garlic and stir in.
Brush: Slice baguette in half the long way; open. Brush cut sides lightly with the flavored olive oil.
Broil: Set bread on a broiler rack. Slide under a hot broiler until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
Rub: Slice tomato in half along its equator. Rub cut side of tomato against toasted faces of the baguette, covering it with pale red pulp. Best to do this with the strong hand and furrowed brow of a Barcelona waiter.
Slice: Drizzle bread with more garlic oil. Sprinkle with salt. Slice on the diagonal into 1-inch-wide wedges. Enjoy plain or topped with ham, cheese or sausage.

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