How to eat avocado

It was invented by the Aztecs to cultivate it. About the Aztecs, of course, almost nothing is clear and everything is unreliable, but there is a number of evidence, according to which the gastronomic history of avocados is already five thousand years old. Like any old and important comrade, avocados are credited with everything from supernatural to medicinal. But the only scientific fact is that, like wheat, it is not able to fill the teeth.

It is versatile and capricious at the same time. Brazilians make wonderful dairy desserts from avocados, Mexicans make great guacamole sauce, but the fruit is terribly oxidized in the fresh air. It can be wooden, like a cabinet, or it can ripen in a paper bag in the presence of an apple or banana in a matter of hours.

When preparing an avocado, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, this is its property to oxidize and blacken. You can fight it with lime juice and lemon. And this is the most important knowledge: a darkening avocado loses not only its green, turning into wheat color, but also its taste.

Second, avocados are high in vegetable fat. At the same time, according to the sensations, it is more creamy than vegetable tone. That’s why avocado goes so well with mashed vegetables, it just goes there instead of a piece of butter. That’s why avocados go so well with milk and cream in desserts – they are, metaphorically speaking, the same blood.

And, although nutritional legends make up about avocado fat, it is still fat, so you don’t need to overeat avocados. With the same success, you can drink a bottle of olive oil from the neck.

And, by the way, growing an avocado seed is quite simple. Four holes around the perimeter where matches or toothpicks are inserted to prevent the bone from sinking into the glass. Water is poured into the glass: just enough so that only the very bottom of the bone drowns in it. Water is replenished as it evaporates. And two weeks later you have a small green sprout in your hands. True, in order for fruits to grow on it one day, you need to have the Andes outside your window, or at least the Negev desert. Avocados do not tolerate frost.

Salad of feta, beetroot tartare and mashed potatoes with avocado

For 4 persons

Preparation: 1,5 hours

Ingredients

• 200 g baked beets
• 20 ml balsamic vinegar
• 10 g orange peel
• 20 ml olive oil
• 200 d kartofelynogo puree
• 200 g avocado pulp
• 20 ml lemon juice
• 15 g cilantro
• 60 g fetas
• Salt, black pepper to taste

Preparation

Sprinkle the beets with vegetable oil, wrap in foil and hold for an hour in the oven, heated to 180 ° C. Finely grate the baked beets and mix with balsamic vinegar, orange zest and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mashed potatoes (boiled potatoes, mashed in a vegetable grinder, mashed or chopped with a mixer, with a little milk, but it is possible without it) is mixed with mashed avocado, lemon juice and finely chopped cilantro. You can use a blender to puree the avocado or, if the avocado is very ripe, mash it with a spoon. Salt and pepper.

Put a little green puree on a plate, beet tartare on top. Decorate this design with feta cubes. You can sprinkle a little orange zest, if left.

Guacamole

For 4 persons

Preparation: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tomatoes
• 1 chili pepper
• 1 bulb
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro (coriander)
• 1 lime
• 3 avocado
• Salt to taste

Preparation

Peel and finely chop the tomatoes. Remove the seeds from the chili pepper and mince together with the onion, garlic and cilantro. In a large mortar and pestle, grind the chili, cilantro, tomatoes, lime zest and onion into a smooth paste. Lightly salt and mix. Add one to two tablespoons of water and lime juice to thin the mixture. Peel the avocado, remove the seeds, cut the flesh into small cubes. Add to chili and tomato paste; knead everything thoroughly. Serve with corn chips.