2010 - A Great Year for Avocadoes

[Daniel Rogov]

I cannot speak for the rest of the world but this year's Israeli avocadoes (more technically correct avocadi but no one uses that spelling) are magnificent!

As to how Israelis eat avocadoes – no problem at all. Cut them in half, remove the pit, fill the cavity with a bit of mayonnaise or simply sprinkle with lemon juice and eat away, dear heart, eat away. Or, of course in guacamole. Or, spread the flesh on toasted bread (pita bread sliced in half crosswise is lovely for this purpose), eat "as is" or sprinkle over with any combination of crushed garlic, lemon juice and/or mayonnaise. And, for those who do not keep kashrut, avocadoes are splendiferous when the flesh is scooped out, cubed, mixed gently together with mayonnaise, lemon juice and small or diced shrimp, crab meat or lobster meat.

For the uninformed (that is to say, most of us), there are three major cultivars of avocado in Israel –

Ettinger - which was actually first developed in Israel, has a smooth green skin, that lightly sprinkled with white spots. Although difficult to peel the seed drops out easily, making it easy to scoop out with a spoon. The flesh is greenish yellow.

Fuerte – of Mexican origin and the parent of Ettinger, with a smooth green skin and yellow flesh. Smaller than the Ettinger and easier to peel.

Hass – with its thick, wrinkled and coarse skin that goes to black when fully ripe, the nuttiest and most rich in fact of the varietals.

Oh yes, and let us never forget one of the greatest of household sports - of taking the pit of an avocado, piercing it with four wood (do not use plastic) toothpicks, immersing that in a small glass of water about 1/4 of the height of the pit, watching as it sprouts and then gives off shoots and leaves. Great fun for children and adults, the children marvelling over the growth, the adults wondering why the shoots always look so skinny and why they can never get a damned avocado tree from their efforts.

A great year for avocadoes!!!!!

Best
Rogov

AvocadoPlant.jpg (12.7 KiB) Viewed 741 times

[Jenise]

In my California childhood, Fuertes were the most common California avocado. They had a short season and were priced as a delicacy. Then Hass was discovered, and between jet air travel, South American growers, and a lot of California residents who have built mansions on five acres and planted the rest to avocados thereby creating a tax write-offable 'farm', Hass have become the majority avocado. When I lived in England 20 years ago, I recall being very grateful to Israel for growing avocados (not a misspelling, just the plural form I'm used to)--which I recall being Fuertes.

Because my grandmother had a particularly large and prodigious Fuerte, I grew up in avocado excess, seasonally speaking, and our family ate them in, sadly, only three ways: on toast, as guacamole, or sliced into salads. I've learned to do more with them, and adore them served as a main dish lunch stuffed with seafood and drizzled in vinaigrette, and they can be the basis for a very luxurious veloute served as a hot or cold soup. Perhaps the most interesting avocado preparation I ever had was a warm mousse served under a flattened piece of grilled marinated chicken, and I sometimes blend a green mash with some pancake batter to make a rich underlayment for a delicate pan-fried fillet of sole.

[Matilda L]

One of the nicest dishes I have ever eaten was served as an entree at a restaurant in the Adelaide suburb of Hyde Park, closed long ago, and I might add closed before I could go back and eat the same thing a second time. It consisted of avocado, slices of warm chicken breast, and walnuts, served with a walnut-oil dressing. It was heavenly.

I've ventured into making hot avocado dishes in the last year, after trying paltas rellenas in Peru.