Picking an Avocado

Jan claims not to know much about avocados, at least not compared with people who have been growing them for 35 years like the old guy at the market. But when Jan's trees aren't going off, I've watched her inspect avocados at the market or Mana Foods with a great deal of interest. It's clear she knew what she was looking for - and with the duds I can pick, I wanted to know too.

Here's what she told me:

Avocado's are often picked before they are ready - I don't mean ripe - but ready. That means that the avocado needs to ripen to a certain degree before it is removed from the tree or it won't ripen correctly (thus the rubbery texture), no matter how long you wait. Apparently once the tree starts dropping fruit, then it's time to pay attention as the first wave is ready. You'd think growers would wait until the right time - but apparently many of them don't. So you need to know what to look for at the market or in the shops.

The big tip is that the stem of the avo (if there is one), where the fruit meets it at the top, should have become darker and look a bit older. It shouldn't be a bright fresh green, or it was picked too soon. If it doesn't have a stem, depending on whether that occurred naturally, could mean that the fruit had already fallen to the ground of it's own accord. That's a good thing. Either way, you still want to look at the fruit itself to be sure the flesh has filled out the skin which will make the avocado appear smooth and full, not puckered or wrinkled, especially around where the stem is or was. Most avocados are best when the lumps and bumps have given way to a smooth full body.

That being said there are many types of avocados, from watery and light to creamy and heavy. Most people seem to prefer the oiler type typified by a Hass. There is no guarantees about which avocado shape or size is going to give you what you're looking for, but Sharwils are popular here on the island and rarely does one go wrong with a Sharwil. When in doubt, ask the avocado purveyor - they'll know which kind they have.

But you will have to determine if the avocado has been picked too early using the above tips.

With all the types of avocado's there are many which are hard to tell when they are ripe and you can think that the hard exterior means it needs more time only to have it be rotten when you open it. Rather than using my previous "trial and error" method of hoping and opening, try a tooth pick from the top. If the toothpick meets no resistance, then the flesh is ready.

Once you have your avocado - here's a suggestion of what to do with it:

Guacamole
We tend to throw everything in, adjusting the elements to taste based on what kind of avocado we find. But this will give you a jumping off point for your own experiments:

1 ripe avocado
juice of half a lime (lemon works too)
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
1 tbsp finely diced onion
1 clove of garlic - pressed or finely diced
1/4 cup chopped tomato, small pieces
1/8 of a green hot chili pepper - finely diced
a dash of hot sauce (optional)
salt and pepper to taste.

We like Hav'a Chips corn chips (bad name, the best corn chips!) with our guac. These chips are really good, but soon, we're going to master making our own chips.
Tip: the chips are extra fabulous warmed just before serving - spread out on a cookie sheet or foil in the convection oven or broiler for just a couple minutes - yum!

Enjoy :)