Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Avocado vinaigrette

I am being plagued at the moment by emails from the avocado mafia. Avocado pears are now in season in New Zealand and the PR firm charged with marketing them is leaving no stone unturned, so to speak. I don't mind that - everyone's got to earn a living somehow - but I object to some of their suggestions. The day I opened the email breathlessly spouting the delights of adding sliced avocado to macaroni cheese my finger hit the delete button so fast there was practically steam coming off it.
Avocadoes, to my mind at least, should not be heated. Nor do they belong on pizza, in cheesecake, or in smoothies. I think the best thing to do with one is to mash it on wholegrain toast with lots of salt, pepper and lemon juice. The second best thing is to eat them as follows.


Avocado Vinaigrette
This is sort of how I remember my mum serving avocado in the late 1980s. Then, avocados were reasonably new, exotic and expensive - as described in Avocado Baby, the John Burningham picture book of the same era. Avocado Baby tells the fantastic story of the Hargreaves, who despair for the health of their sickly child, until he starts eating avocadoes and becomes imbued with superhero strength.

1 ripe avocado
1 rasher good, free-range bacon
1 ripe tomato, optional
salt and pepper
1tsp fish sauce
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Fry the bacon until crisp. Cut into dice and put in a small bowl. Dice the tomato and add, followed by the fish sauce, vinegar and olive oil. Stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Halve and stone the avocado, then fill the cavities with the bacon mixture. Eat with a small spoon and a contented smile. A good lunch for one avocado lover.

What's your favourite thing to do with an avocado? Pin It

10 comments:

  1. Totally agree with all those things NOT to do to an avo.
    I love toast with avocado, salt, pepper, lemon juice. Or, rub raw garlic on crunchy toast, then top with avo, salt & pepper.
    When we were kids it was a treat to eat half an avocado, which had a pool of lemon juice in the hole left by the pip.
    x Rhi

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  2. Oh I love avocados, they are quite expensive in the UK. I agree about not heating them, I just love them sliced in salad or made up as guacamole, but your recipe looks delcious.

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  3. Thinking about avocado dishes reminded me of the time around 30-odd years ago when every restaurant seemed to serve avocado with crab as a starter - well, it was more sophisticated than prawns. It's probably best to leave that recipe in the past. Love your dish, though. I confess that these days when I hear the word avocado, I reach for the bacon.

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  4. The thing about avocados is they must be in absolutely perfect condition when you eat them. It makes me furious when I see retailers selling black mushy ones that are only fit for the compost. The avocado PR people (who keep bombarding me too) would be better to put their energies into ensuring retailers know how to sell them - much more effective than persuading us to eat avocados with macaroni cheese. (I had an avocado soup once which was truly ghastly.)

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  5. I love avocado sliced on toasted vogels with lots of salt & pepper! Avocados are just so cheap at the mo but I am trying not to be greedy and over-do it. With you on what not to do with avocados... NEVER to be cooked/heated. I despaired at the Holst's "avocado flan" in the Dom a few weeks ago. Criminal.

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  6. A lovely dutch lady taught me a delicious quick snack was to halve an avocado, remove the pip, criss-cross the flesh while still in the skin and sprinkle soy sauce all over it and scoop out with a spoon - its so good and easy!!

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  7. retro food is all the rage darlink!... I adore avocado's so this is heavenly for me... I'd happily wake up with a horses head in my bead for a bucket load of these green babies!

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  8. one word - guacomole ... one more word - heaven.

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  9. I just had avocado on wholegrain toast for lunch - sooo good. But now I'm kinda wishing I had made this... Avocado + bacon = amazing. Luckily avocados are cheap at the moment!

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  10. Yep I am firmly and wholeheartedly an avocado-on-vogels-til-I-die girl. Just today for lunch I had half an avocado smooshed into 2 slices of vogels with lots of cracked pepper and salt. I also believe avocado and bacon belong together, and this looks awesome!

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