Avocado

Category: Food

Type

Voluntary

Introduction and description

The avocado (Persea americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel. Avocado or alligator pear also refers to the fruit, botanically a large berry that contains a single seed.

Avocados are commercially valuable and are cultivated in tropical and Mediterranean climates throughout the world.

They have a green-skinned, fleshy body that may be pear-shaped, egg-shaped, or spherical. And they are delicious when really ripe.

The avocado has served as an important staple in the diet of various groups where access to other fatty foods (high-fat meats and fish, dairy products, etc.) is limited. My friend Anna lived on avocados for a month, after the antibiotics she had been mis-prescribed caused her whole body to erupt and the skin to peel away leaving her mouth red raw; pureed avocados were the only food she was able to eat without it hurting.  She got better.

Method

A ripe avocado yields to gentle pressure when held in the palm of the hand and squeezed. The flesh is prone to enzymatic browning; it 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 rich, and distinctly yet subtly flavoured, and of smooth, almost creamy texture. It can be used in both savoury and sweet dishes. The avocado is very popular in vegetarian cuisine, as a substitute for meat in sandwiches and salads. Avocados should be eaten raw.

You can make a delicious ice cream by combining pureed avocado and coconut milk.

A delicious salad can be made by combining chopped avocados, mangoes, guavas and papayas with watercress.  They are nice simply halved with balsamic vinegar; in salads with walnuts and rocket; combined with ordinary pears as a side salad and served with a hazelnut and cider vinegar dressing; stuffed with crab and creme fraiche; stuffed with cottage cheese and raisins, with tuna, with peanut butter and chicken ............

You can liquidise them with yoghurt a little pepper and salt to make a thick smoothie, add some ground toasted cumin seeds and it is even more special.  You make guacamole with avocado. Chopped with fresh coriander, lime juice, spring onions and tomato it is delicious with chilli and sour cream.

You can't really go wrong.

Nutrients

The following was derived from item  09038, Avocados, raw, California National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
Release 26   Software v.1.3.1 Nutrient values and weights are for edible portion. 

On a weight basis, avocados have 35% more potassium (485 mg/100 g) than bananas (358 mg/100 g). They are rich in folic acid and vitamin K, and are a good dietary sources of vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E and pantothenic acid

Related observations

Healing observations

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