The first time I tasted an avocado, I was nineteen years old. I remember because it was a luscious experience, and avocados have been a mainstay in my diet ever since.
Ugly Good
I was at a party in Laguna Beach, CA with one of my dearest friends. Everyone brought appetizers to share (no idea what I made and most likely no one else remembers either).
One guest brought in several dark greenish-black lumpy ovals that looked to my uneducated eye to be rotten. She plunked them on the counter, and I watched with a skeptical eye as she took a sharp knife, scored a deep line beginning at the stem and moved the blade down and back up along the other side. That done, she twisted the fruit until it came apart to reveal a burgundy colored golf ball sized pit. Then, with one firm whack of the blade, she hit the pit, twisted the knife’s handle, and yanked out the shiny ball. In the ensuing crevice, she poured a tiny pool of balsamic vinegar.
We were given spoons and told to enjoy; she need not have bothered with that final instruction.
According to University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources site, there are ninety-seven varieties of avocado. My first taste was most likely the hybrid of Rudolph Haas, known as the Haas variety. It travels well and has a comforting creamy texture.
Beautiful Food
Breakfast: Smear a warm flour tortilla with fresh, creamy avocado
Lunch: Repeat breakfast recipe, maybe adding a slice of grilled chicken and salt
Dinner: Sliced avocado and egg on a welcoming bed of crunchy lettuce = textural paradise
Dessert: Ever tried avocado ice-cream? With a sprinkle of coconut? My mouth waters at the thought!
Here’s a site that touts the many health benefits of avocados. Check it out!
Avocados are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. The first Europeans to eat avocado were the Spanish Conquistadors, and the first published notation of avocados was in the year 1519 by Martín Fernández de Encisco, a navigator from Seville, Spain.
The Aztec’s called the fruit ahuacatl, the same name they gave to testicles. Accordingly, avocados (it has been said) encourage virility. Maybe that’s why guacamole is so popular.
Here’s my recipe:
One fresh vine-ripened tomato, parboiled, skinned, seeded, and chopped
Two avocados, peeled and chopped
One half white onion, peeled and chopped
Fresh lime juice and salt to taste.
If I have fresh cilantro, I’ll add a chopped handful, but I’m a purist who loves the simple flavor of a perfectly ripened avocado.
What’s your favorite avocado recipe?
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