AVOCADO ?

"serene" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 08:38:03 -0800, Sheldon wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

Flavor-wise avocado is little more than high fat tofu.

Oh, wow, I couldn't disagree more. Avocados taste heavenly to me.
Not that I dislike tofu, but avocados are not the neutral, bland
thing I've seen described here.

serene

For bad avocados this is a good description, and usually the large ones
(from Florida I believe) fit this pretty well. But a good California
avocado, properly ripened, has a unique and delicious taste that is like
nothing else.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 05:52:16 -0800, Phred wrote
(in article <[email hidden]>😉:

Quoted message said:

Avocados are at least edible, tofu is Yuck!

*shrug* I became a vegetarian when tofu was considered nearly
mandatory (more than twenty years ago), so I developed a taste for
it. I like it.

serene

"<RJ>" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm still trying to acclimate to the Tex-Mex eating style.

But avocados have me puzzled.
A spoonful of avocado tastes like
a spoonful of lard.....
Try as I may, there's no discernable flavor.

Is this one of these totally neutral items
that only supplies color and texture
to the other ingredients ?

Or am I one of the 10% that is missing
the "avocado tastebuds" ?

an unripe avacado is indeed almost like spoon of hard lard, not worth
anything but hiding under dressing.

a ripe avacado is a complex set of flavors that vary as the variety and the
soil and conditions in which they were grown and the degree of ripeness-
some have a garlic flavor, some have a sweet flavor, some have a rich
background aroma that fills the sinuses like cognac does.

an avacado is ripe a day or two after you get it home from the store, when
you can touch it on the sides with your fingers and the flesh under the skin
just slightly gives. The riper it gets, the different the flavors.

Use a sharp knife to halve it lengthwise to the pit, then turn one side
against the other and remove the side without the pit.
Holding the other half in your palm, pit up, use the knife edge to tap
once into the pit, and turn the pit and take it out. (Kudos to the
senora who showed me that trick)

The skin of a ripe avacado will peel off very easily from the big end sort
of turning inside out. or from the small end kind of sliding out as the skin
peels back.

Once ripe, avacados seem to change flavors as they ripen, until they start
to grey and really mush up. The ones we got now get more garlicky the riper
they are.

fwiw

"Scott Peterson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Charles Gifford said:

They are a native of Mexico.

The green skinned ones are varieties of Mexican Ancestry. The harder
black skinned ones are from Guatamalan stock.

<snip>

It ain't quite that cut-n-dried, but you are correct. I did not address the
C.A. avocados because I was contrasting the original posters use of
"Tex-Mex" with Mexican.

Charlie

Quoted message said:

"Scott Peterson" wrote>

Charles Gifford said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

They are a native of Mexico.

The green skinned ones are varieties of Mexican Ancestry. The

harder

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

black skinned ones are from Guatamalan stock.

<snip>

It ain't quite that cut-n-dried, but you are correct. I did not

address the

Quoted message said:

C.A. avocados because I was contrasting the original posters use of
"Tex-Mex" with Mexican.

I'm not quite sure of the above attributions, so bite me.

Someone is going to have validate the claim about which color skinned
avocado originated where with citations... personally I think,
considering the avocado is known to have originated some 5-6 Thousand
years BC, with no mention of any color skin whatsoever, the above claim
is a lotta hooey.

This is the best I can find:
http://www.avocado.org/avocado-facts/avocado-history.php

I tend to think the original avocado was light-ish green smooth
skinned, the dark pebbly skinned ie. Hass-ish being a very recent
example.

Sheldon

"--" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The skin of a ripe avacado will peel off very easily from the big
end sort
of turning inside out. or from the small end kind of sliding out as
the skin peels back.

I like the dark green flesh close to the skin, so I take a large spoon and
scoop the flesh out, hugging the inside surface of the skin with the edge
of the spoon. And then go back and scrape any of the green good stuff I
miss.

ScratchMonkey said:

"--" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The skin of a ripe avacado will peel off very easily from the big
end sort
of turning inside out. or from the small end kind of sliding out as
the skin peels back.

I like the dark green flesh close to the skin, so I take a large

spoon and

Quoted message said:

scoop the flesh out, hugging the inside surface of the skin with the

edge

Quoted message said:

of the spoon. And then go back and scrape any of the green good stuff

I

Quoted message said:

miss.

I think the Avocado Commission calls that good stuff the Smegma.

RJ said:

I'm still trying to acclimate to the Tex-Mex eating style.

But avocados have me puzzled.
A spoonful of avocado tastes like
a spoonful of lard.....
Try as I may, there's no discernable flavor.

Is this one of these totally neutral items
that only supplies color and texture
to the other ingredients ?

Nope. For th eones who can detect the specific
chemical(s) involved they have a distinctive
flavor.

Quoted message said:

Or am I one of the 10% that is missing
the "avocado tastebuds" ?

Definitely genetic. To me they may as well be
green crayons. Avocados are wasted on me because
I can not appreciate them. I don't mind them as
I find them nearly flavorless, but better give
them to the folks who can detect the flavor.

Other genetic flavor detection stuff:

People with enough Hungarian blood to have the
gene find paprika to be hot. Most other folks
think it is pretty red and it has a slight mild
pleasant flavor but is not hot.

After eating asparagus some people can smell the
tang when they [censored], other can't.

In junior high school chemistry class I recall
a test with a strip of some reagent. Some found
it bitter, some could not taste it.

Doug Freyburger said:

RJ said:

I'm still trying to acclimate to the Tex-Mex eating style.

But avocados have me puzzled.
A spoonful of avocado tastes like
a spoonful of lard.....
Try as I may, there's no discernable flavor.

Is this one of these totally neutral items
that only supplies color and texture
to the other ingredients ?

Nope. For th eones who can detect the specific
chemical(s) involved they have a distinctive
flavor.

Quoted message said:

Or am I one of the 10% that is missing
the "avocado tastebuds" ?

Definitely genetic. To me they may as well be
green crayons. Avocados are wasted on me because
I can not appreciate them. I don't mind them as
I find them nearly flavorless, but better give
them to the folks who can detect the flavor.

Other genetic flavor detection stuff:

People with enough Hungarian blood to have the
gene find paprika to be hot. Most other folks
think it is pretty red and it has a slight mild
pleasant flavor but is not hot.

Paprika does come in mild and hot forms. It's not all just mild.

Quoted message said:

<snip>

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"Scott Peterson" wrote>

Charles Gifford said:

Quoted message said:

>They are a native of Mexico.

The green skinned ones are varieties of Mexican Ancestry. The

harder

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

black skinned ones are from Guatamalan stock.

<snip>

It ain't quite that cut-n-dried, but you are correct. I did not

address the

Quoted message said:

C.A. avocados because I was contrasting the original posters use of
"Tex-Mex" with Mexican.

I'm not quite sure of the above attributions, so bite me.

Someone is going to have validate the claim about which color skinned
avocado originated where with citations... personally I think,
considering the avocado is known to have originated some 5-6 Thousand
years BC, with no mention of any color skin whatsoever, the above claim
is a lotta hooey.

This is the best I can find:
http://www.avocado.org/avocado-facts/avocado-history.php

I tend to think the original avocado was light-ish green smooth
skinned, the dark pebbly skinned ie. Hass-ish being a very recent
example.

Sheldon

I left all the attributions in my post as it is confusing enough as it is.
My contribution to this thread was just to say that I did not say anything
about Central American avocados and explained, very quickly, why. I did not
comment on any other part of the previous poster's statements. In fact, I do
not know much about the avocados history other than the fact that their
ancestor almost certainly came from Central America and Southern Mexico. I
think your thoughts on the subject are correct. Just relying on my memory of
what I've heard over the years, are that the first avocados were not edible
as we now know them. They were small with less flesh and progressing from
hard-proceeding-to-rotten. As mar as I know, all the smooth skinned and
pebbly skinned avocados are modern varieties. In San Diego, the Fuerte was
the most common. Now it is 1. hass, 2. bacon, 3. fuerte and 4. a few other
varieties.

Charlie

In article <[email hidden]>,

Charles Gifford said:

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

[ Snipped to avoid further confusion 🙂 ]

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm not quite sure of the above attributions, so bite me.

No thanks. I doubt that you're edible.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Someone is going to have validate the claim about which color skinned
avocado originated where with citations... personally I think,
considering the avocado is known to have originated some 5-6 Thousand
years BC, with no mention of any color skin whatsoever, the above claim
is a lotta hooey.

This is the best I can find:
http://www.avocado.org/avocado-facts/avocado-history.php

I tend to think the original avocado was light-ish green smooth
skinned, the dark pebbly skinned ie. Hass-ish being a very recent
example.

I left all the attributions in my post as it is confusing enough as it is.
My contribution to this thread was just to say that I did not say anything
about Central American avocados and explained, very quickly, why. I did not
comment on any other part of the previous poster's statements. In fact, I do
not know much about the avocados history other than the fact that their
ancestor almost certainly came from Central America and Southern Mexico. I
think your thoughts on the subject are correct. Just relying on my memory of
what I've heard over the years, are that the first avocados were not edible
as we now know them. They were small with less flesh and progressing from
hard-proceeding-to-rotten. As mar as I know, all the smooth skinned and
pebbly skinned avocados are modern varieties. In San Diego, the Fuerte was
the most common. Now it is 1. hass, 2. bacon, 3. fuerte and 4. a few other
varieties.

I have raised several trees from seed (I know, I know... I'm old
enough to know better %-) and can confirm that there's bugger all
chance of getting half decent fruit from seedling trees of even
*modern* varieties . Charlie's "hard-proceeding-to-rotten" describes
their quality quite well. ;-)

Probably more detail than you ever wanted to know about avos at
University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
<http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MG213>
See especially their Table 2 for characteristics of the three
ecological races (Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian).

And if that's not enough, try:
<http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/avocado_ars.html>
which is "reprinted" from the late Julia Morton's book "Fruits of Warm
Climates" -- a bible of its genre.
There you'll find lots of stuff on origin and subsequent distribution,
descriptions of varieties, marketing and storage ... Oh, there's even
a section on Food Uses. ;-)

Cheers, Phred.

--
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