Avocado Lovers?

[KatyCooks]

Hmm. Katy, that may be it! Thanks!

Still won't keep me from visiting London again. How's the snorkeling there? Oh, that's right, never mind. The Thames isn't known for that.

Give it a go - and make it to your personal taste. (But don't go overboard on the tomato puree.)

As for London? I was there in August and it was hopping! A very vibrant place to be! So definitely come back!

And the Thames is a lot cleaner than it used to be...... but I still wouldn't snorkel there!!

 

[CraigC]

Folks, avacados will not ripen on the tree. They can take 7-10 days to ripen after picking. If transported in a nitogen environment, they will not begin to ripen until exposed to O2 in air.

 

[taxlady]

Folks, avacados will not ripen on the tree. They can take 7-10 days to ripen after picking. If transported in a nitogen environment, they will not begin to ripen until exposed to O2 in air.

Interesting. I didn't know that.

 

[Andy M.]

Folks, avacados will not ripen on the tree. They can take 7-10 days to ripen after picking. If transported in a nitogen environment, they will not begin to ripen until exposed to O2 in air.

They can take 3-4 days in my kitchen in a bag with a banana or an apple.

 

[CraigC]

They can take 3-4 days in my kitchen in a bag with a banana or an apple.

A tomato in the bag will work as well. I imagine you are talking about Hass? The avacado variety I grow take 7-10 days, even with the gas help.

 

[Dawgluver]

Interesting. I didn't know that.

Me neither. No wonder so many I get need to sit on the counter for so long.

 

[Mad Cook]

Mad Cook, do you find it as irritating as I do, that the supermarkets sell either rock hard avocadoes (which are expensive enough), or charge a premium for so-called "ripe" ones?

It's a supermarket thing. I buy the hard, unripe ones a few days before I need them and put them in a brown paper bag (colour of bag not essential) in a drawer until they ripen up.

The situation seems to be the other way over *here. You can often buy a bag or 3-5 ripe avocados at a "special" (ie low) price in the "For Quick Sale" display of ripe fruit and veg - what the store thinks is on it's way out but the (sensible) customer knows it just right. Supermarkets don't have a clue.

Edit:- *sorry Katy, just realised you're a Hampshire girl not a New Hampshire girl!

 

[Mad Cook]

Nothing remotely like that, but by gum that looks good! (And I would scoff it in a heartbeat).

"by gum" - now there's a Yorkshire expression!

 

[taxlady]

It's a supermarket thing. I buy the hard, unripe ones a few days before I need them and put them in a brown paper bag (colour of bag not essential) in a drawer until they ripen up.

The situation seems to be the other way round here. You can often buy a bag or 3-5 ripe avocados at a "special" (ie low) price in the "For Quick Sale" display of ripe fruit and veg - what the store thinks is on it's way out but the (sensible) customer knows it just right. Supermarkets don't have a clue.

I wouldn't say the supermarkets don't have a clue. If they don't sell them quickly, they will go from just right to past their prime.

 

[Mad Cook]

I recall a tomato mayo based dressing on them too.

Well, I may just have to go back to London sometime to find the exact recipe.

Dawgluver, it's called "Marie Rose Sauce" (lord knows why) and it's equal quantities of mayo and tomato ketchup with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce to taste. (Lee & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce is best if you can get it) . Sadly, much of what you get in restaurants in Britain comes out of a jar.

But don't let me put you off visiting London again.

 

[Mad Cook]

I wouldn't say the supermarkets don't have a clue. If they don't sell them quickly, they will go from just right to past their prime.

Well, yes, but you'd think they'd have the sense to point them up as "prime" avocados to con the customer into snapping them up.

When I watch Ina Garten and other American cooks on television shopping in "markets" and see the array of veg on offer I do get a bit jealous. I tend to shop for veg in independent small stores for freshness and quality rather than supermarkets where veg tends to look and be very tired.

 

[Dawgluver]

Dawgluver, it's called "Marie Rose Sauce" (lord knows why) and it's equal quantities of mayo and tomato ketchup with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce (Lee & Perrin's is best if you can get it) to taste.

But don't let me put you off visiting London again.

Thanks, Mad Cook! I had to Google it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Rose_sauce as I was curious about the origin. Ah, and going back through this thread, that's what Katy said it was too.

And I was in London in the late '70’s, when it was popular. Makes sense.

 

[taxlady]

Well, yes, but you'd think they'd have the sense to point them up as "prime" avocados to con the customer into snapping them up.

When I watch Ina Garten and other American cooks on television shopping in "markets" and see the array of veg on offer I do get a bit jealous. I tend to shop for veg in independent small stores for freshness and quality rather than supermarkets where veg tends to look and be very tired.

Ah, I see what you're saying. I guess it's more effort than they think it's worth. I always check on the avocados in the "quick sell bin", but, they are almost always past their prime.

I generally only buy fruits and veg from one supermarket, Mourelatos, because they care, and at the health food store. Not much in the way of greengrocers around here.

We have a supermarket called Loblaws. I was talking to someone who said she didn't like the fruit and veg from Mourelatos. It isn't as "pretty" as the stuff at Loblaws (next door). When I look at the overpriced fruit and veg at Loblaws, it gives me the creeps. It's all so uniform. I occasionally buy some organic fruit/veg at Loblaws, if I am there and don't have time to go to the health food store too.

 

[medtran49]

They can take 3-4 days in my kitchen in a bag with a banana or an apple.

Well they take a little longer for us since we walk out into our backyard and pick them (no shipping time to the grocery). By the time you add in shipping, you're at least at 7-10 days assuming they haven't been kept in a high nitrogen environment.

 

[KatyCooks]

Well they take a little longer for us since we walk out into our backyard and pick them (no shipping time to the grocery). By the time you add in shipping, you're at least at 7-10 days assuming they haven't been kept in a high nitrogen environment.

Interesting! So even when they are literally in your back garden, you have to pick them way before you can eat them? Do they really not ripen on the tree?

 

[medtran49]

They will eventually fall off the tree by themselves but they are still hard at that point and have to ripen/soften over time. You can speed up the process a tiny bit by putting in a bag with a banana or tomato but not more than a day or 2 at most.

We're just getting to the time that our personal avocados will ripen/soften before they rot. We'll start picking 1 every so often to see how it does. We'll have them thru late November/mid to late December depending on weather. Other varieties of locally-grown avocados have been in the stores for 2-3 months and soon will be out of season. Avocados grown in Florida are the big, smooth-skinned type.