I have a breadmaker and bake my own whole-grain bread. It makes wonderful toast. Tomatoes on toast has been one of my favorite things since I was a child. I would slather on delicious New Zealand butter thickly, top with sliced tomato, and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Since I came to Japan however, I've pretty much given up on butter. Hokkaido butter is pretty good, but it's also pretty expensive. Besides, I've lost the illusion of invincibility that is a part of being young, so using butter the way I like to use it (thickly) makes me feel vaguely guilty. And perhaps most significant of all, Japanese refrigerators don't seem to have butter conditioners. But I've found a very satisfactory substitute - mayonnaise.
I hate the too-sweet, too-acidic 'mayonnaise' in New Zealand. I never used it. You can buy wonderful mayonnaise in Japan, rich and creamy. Add crushed garlic and it would do for aoli (don't tell my friend Sandra, who is a
real foodie, I said that!) I usually buy 'karashi' (hot muststard) flavor. It's an excellent stand-in for butter with tomatoes (doesn't work well with marmalade.) It's also really good with ham on toast. I never ate ham on toast before a Japanese friend introduced me to it, but now I'm a big fan.
The other thing I really love to eat on toast is banana. And that doesn't need butter, just a sprinkle of cinnamon.
