Ingredient: Avocados
Category: Fruit
Season: All:
The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico, Central America, and Guam, The name "avocado" also refers to the fruit of the tree with an egg-shaped pit.
The fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear or alligator pear, due to its shape and rough green skin.
This pear-shaped fruit is a true berry, from 7 to 20 centimetres long, weighs between 100 and 1000 grams, and has a large central seed, 5 - 6.4 centimetres long
The fruit is the size of a temperate-zone pear or larger, on the outside bright green to green-brown (or almost black) in colour.
The fruit has a markedly higher fat content than most other fruit, mostly monounsaturated fat.
A ripe avocado will yield to a gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed.
The flesh is typically greenish yellow to golden yellow when ripe.
The flesh oxidises and turns brown quickly after exposure to air. To prevent this, lime or lemon juice can be added to avocados after they are peeled.
The fruit is not sweet, but fatty, strongly flavoured, and of smooth, almost creamy texture.
Culinary Uses
The avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, making an excellent substitute for meats in sandwiches and salads because of its high fat content.
It is used as the base for the Mexican dip known as guacamole.
As a filling for several kinds of sushi, including California rolls.
Avocado is popular in chicken dishes and as a spread on toast, served with salt and pepper.
In Brazil and Vietnam
Avocados are considered sweet fruits, so are frequently used for milk-shakes and occasionally added to ice cream and other desserts.
In Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia
A dessert drink is made with sugar, milk or water, and pureed avocado, chocolate syrup is sometimes added.
In Central America
Avocados are served mixed with white rice.
In Chile
Its consumption is widespread and used as a puree in chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs, and in slices for celery or lettuce salads.
The Chilean version of caesar salad contains large slices of mature avocado.
A ripe, buttery-textured avocado, served with a really good vinaigrette or filled with cooked prawns and thousand island dressing, is simplicity itself.
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