Avocado is one of the most unusual fruits. Due to the oily pulp, which contains a fairly large amount of fat, and a unique taste, it has been widely used in cooking. But so far not all our compatriots know how to eat avocados correctly. Eating this fruit has several features. Knowing them, you will not spoil an expensive product, having received only positive impressions from acquaintance with it.
Fetal Information
America is the birthplace of avocados, the official name of this fruit, Perseus American, reminds of this. Another name of the fruit is associated with its appearance - it is called the alligator pear. Fruits most often have a pear-shaped or just round-oval shape, covered with a dense skin of dark green or brown color.
The size of the fruit may be small (5 cm) and large (20 cm), the weight of the fruit most often ranges from 120 g to 1, 5 kg. On sale most often appear not too large fruits, whose weight is about 200-250 g.
Inside each fetus there is a bone. Regarding whether to eat it in food, there are disputes. This is due to the fact that it contains both useful and harmful substances. Most consumers prefer to discard bone.
The rind is also not edible. It is removed by hand or cut off with a knife. Another option is to separate the pulp from the rind with a spoon.
The pulp of an avocado is juicy and oily; it makes a thick puree that is easy to spread on bread, like pate or butter. This is due to the presence of the composition of vegetable fats. Because of this, the energy value of avocados is quite large: 100 g of pulp contains from 150 to 200 kcal. This makes the product not very well suited for people on a diet, but because of this quality, avocados are highly respected by vegetarians.
The avocado pulp contains many macro-and microelements that are necessary for the body, vitamins, and fruit acids. The product has antioxidant properties, improves metabolism, serves to prevent cardiovascular diseases, improves brain activity, strengthens the immune system. Dishes that have added avocado pulp are nourishing.
The taste of avocado is poorly pronounced, close to neutral. It has creamy and nutty notes. Some catch in it the taste of pine nuts, the smell of pine needles. In combination with other products, avocado taste is revealed in a new way.
Only ripe fruits have a pleasant taste, immature bitter ones. Over-grown fruits will not be pleasant to you either - the flesh in them turns into a shapeless, little appetizing mass. For eating it is important to choose the fruit of the optimum degree of maturity. To do this, you need to touch, press on the peel. If a very small dent remains on it, the fruit is ripe, but not overcooked. The pale color of the skin indicates that the avocado is still green. After lying for several days at room temperature, it will ripen. The ripening process can be accelerated by putting ripe apples or bananas in a bag of avocado.
It is not recommended to store avocados in the refrigerator - at low temperatures the fruits begin to rot quickly. But the puree obtained from the pulp of avocado, mixed with lemon juice and stored in the refrigerator.
Usage Features
Avocados are not quite eaten like other fruits. The basic rules are:
- they eat only the pulp of an avocado taken from a ripe fruit;
- pure avocado is not accepted, as its taste is not bright enough;
- adding citrus fruit juice helps the avocado taste to open better and prevents its pulp from darkening;
- Avocados are consumed only raw: if it is subjected to heat treatment, it will become bitter. Pulp can be added to soups and other dishes, but only after they have already been cooked and removed from the stove.
Given the neutral taste of avocado, there are many ways to use it.
- chopped avocado pulp to a paste state is used as a spread for sandwiches or serves as a basis for its preparation;
- Avocado purees are made into sauces and pies, one example is Mexican guacamole;
- Avocado slices are used for making rolls, especially for vegetarian ones;
- Avocado puree can serve as a garnish for fish and meat dishes;
- Avocado pulp is used to make cream soups (they are served cold);
- with the addition of avocados make various fillings for cold appetizers;
- Cubes and slices of avocado can often be seen in seafood and poultry salads. Avocado is well combined with other fruits, as well as vegetables, cheese;
- on the basis of avocados make ice cream, mousses and other desserts that do not require baking;
- Avocado puree often becomes an ingredient in smoothies and milkshakes.
Avocados can be added to dishes in the form of slices, cubes or mashed potatoes. To do this, the flesh is required to separate from the bone and peel, grind. This is usually done as follows:
- Wash and dry the avocado fruit.
- Along the circumference, a cut is made with a sharp knife. You need to cut to the bone.
- Twisting the halves, the fruit is divided into two parts.
- Spoon extracts the bone along with its shell.
- Cut the pulp along or across (or with a grate, if you want to get cubes). The incisions should be deep, to the skin.
- Separate the pulp from the skin with a spoon or knife. If you just need flesh, it is simply scraped with a spoon.
If the avocado is ripe, the skin can be removed with the hands, without the aid of a knife.
The nature of the grinding of avocado pulp depends on the recipe chosen.
Avocado Cream Soup
Composition:
- avocados - 0, 4 kg;
- chicken broth - 1, 5 l;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- olive oil - 20 ml;
- salt, pepper, fresh greens - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Cut the avocado in half by removing the bone.
- Spoon the pulp from the halves of the fruit with a spoon, place it in the blender bowl and chop it to puree.
- Mix the avocado puree with hot, but not boiling broth (optimal temperature - 70 degrees). Beat with a blender or mixer until smooth.
- Cool the soup.
- Finely chop the garlic, lightly fry in olive oil.
- Chop the greens finely.
- Pour the soup into plates, put a little toasted garlic and chopped greens on each plate.
It is impossible to warm the soup, the next day it will become tasteless, so you should cook it in the amount that you are ready to eat.
Chicken Avocado Salad
Composition:
- avocados - 0, 2 kg;
- apple - 0, 2 kg;
- lemon juice - 40 ml;
- boiled chicken breast (fillet) - 0, 2 kg;
- celery root - 50 g;
- onions - 75 g;
- parsley - 50 g;
- salt, pepper, olive oil - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Peel the apple, cut the core out of it. Pulp cut into small cubes. Sprinkle with lemon juice so that they do not darken.
- Chicken boiled in salted water, disassemble into fibers or finely chop, combine with chicken.
- Peel celery, grind grated, put to other ingredients.
- Onion, freeing from the husk, cut as small as possible and combine with other components.
- Cut the avocado, remove the bone from it with a spoon. Take half into your hand, make longitudinal cuts on the pulp, cutting it almost to the skin. The distance between the cuts should be about 1 cm. After that, make the cuts perpendicular to the first one. Separate the flesh from the rind with a spoon. Similarly, chop the second half of the fruit.
- Put the avocado pieces in a bowl, mash them with a fork, add the remaining lemon juice to them, mix.
- Add salt, pepper, a little olive oil (about 20 ml) to the pulp of the avocado, stir.
- Shift avocado paste to crushed products, mix well, so that all ingredients are evenly distributed.
A salad prepared according to this recipe is suitable for serving on sandwiches or in tartlets.
Avocado and Salmon Salad
Composition:
- salted salmon - 0, 2 kg;
- avocados - 0, 3 kg;
- cherry tomatoes - 0, 3 kg;
- lemon juice - 60 ml;
- olive oil - 40 ml;
- leaf lettuce - 50 g;
- sesame seeds - 30 g;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Separate the pulp of the avocado, simultaneously cutting it into cubes of about 1-1.5 cm.
- Cut the salmon in about the same size.
- Salad tear hands, put on a dish.
- Cut the tomatoes in half.
- Mix fish with avocado and tomatoes. Add lemon juice and butter to them, mix.
- Put the appetizer on lettuce leaves, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
This original salad can be prepared for the festive table. It will take a little time, but the guests will almost certainly be satisfied with this delicious treat.
Avocado has unique organoleptic qualities, it goes well with poultry meat, seafood, vegetables and other fruits. Avocado pulp is included in the composition of various desserts and snacks. Peel and bone contained in the fruit, do not eat.
