It’s Guacamole Day. If you had told us a few years ago that we would be writing a blog on something whose primary ingredient is avocado, we would have told you to go and lie in a darkened room.
Not that we have anything against this small green fruit of course, after all Mexican food is one of our specialities and the subject of this blog, guacamole, is the perfect accompaniment to many of the things we make.
It’s more because we Brits did not initially understand them. When they were first introduced in the UK they were marketed as avocado pears and allegedly one Marks and Spencer (they claim to be the first to sell them) customer complained after she’d stewed her avocado pear and served it with custard. M&S then started selling them with leaflets explaining they were intended to be a salad item.
Then millennials happened.
Yes, those of you, annoyingly born between the early 1980s and early 2000s are the reason why we are writing about avocado now.
Millennials love avocados. In 2018 they spent $453 million on avocados, more than any other group.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, the amount of agricultural land dedicated to growing avocado around the world grew from 381,000 hectares in 2006 to 564,000 hectares in 2016.
From toast (a millennial favourite) to tacos, avocados are everywhere. No diet discriminates against avocados – not vegans, vegetarians, keto diet followers or omnivores, so if you grow avocados, the chances are that you are quid’s in!
But anyway, to guacamole. It’s a simple dip made with avocados, obviously, coriander leaves, tomato, onion, chili and lime.
They are great served with tortilla chips and crudités as a snack, smeared on toast and in a burger, plus the avocados are packed with nutrients, vitamins and healthy fats that help lower cholesterol, so there’s really nothing not to like.
Millennials get a hard time because they don’t drink as much as the older generation, insist on exercising all the time and spend their lives on social media, but we’ll cut them some slack for the part they have played in the rise and rise of the avocado.
Here is this week’s millennial inspired recipe for Guacamole Day:
Homemade Guacamole toast with chilli pepper and parsley
Ingredients:
- 3 ripe avocados
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Several cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 1/2 small red onion, minced
- 1 red chilli, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 slices sourdough bread, toasted
- A bunch of fresh coriander, chopped
- Sliced chillis
Method:
- In a bowl, mash the avocados with lime juice and salt and stir in the tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, and garlic.
- Toast the bread in a griddle pan, then spread on the guacamole. Top with the sliced chillis and more coriander.
About Sean Flint
Development & Innovation Chef of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
