Eating avocado - are you supposed to mix it with something or cook it from raw?

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ChowDownBob

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I'd heard of avacados but never bought or eaten one until recently, when my daughter came home from school saying they'd talked about them in class and "could we try one?"

I stopped at the market on the way home and bought three of them and when I got home cut one up to see what was inside. I assumed you should take the skin off the outside and eat the pulpy / fleshy stuff inside, and of course found the stone in the middle - and it all seemed to go okay until we tasted it!! :sick:

It was horrible - such a strange texture and the taste, well, not one of us liked it and we decided that maybe you need to do something more to it or mix it with something, or steam it or fry or bake it maybe.

So what did we do wrong (if anything)? and if we didn't, do you get used to the taste and texture over time (not that we're likely to persist as it really wasn't all that pleasant)?
 
Hi and welcome to Discuss Cooking :)

Did you eat it plain? Avocados taste better sprinkled with lemon or lime juice and salt and pepper.

Avocados are one of those things that's often better with other ingredients. One popular use for it is to make guacamole: cut the avocado into chunks and mix it with diced tomato, diced onion, minced garlic, minced jalapeño, lime juice, chopped cilantro and salt (or salsa, to make it easier). This makes a tasty dip for tortilla chips or a spread for tacos and fajitas.

Some people like to slice them and put them on sandwiches. Or dice them and use as a garnish on almost any kind of Mexican dish.

Hope this helps.
 
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Just like the song about tequila by Shelly West, ... with a little salt and lime!:yum: Welcome to DC.
 
Um, was it actually ripe? Most avocados sold in stores are unripe and take a few days to ripen. If it was at all firm and hard, it wasn't ripe. Unripe avocados taste horrible.

There should be a little give and the flesh should be fairly soft and creamy. It should still hold it's shape when sliced or cubed, but barely, like potatoes cubed and cooked for potato salad.

If it's really soft and has a bunch of brown stuff inside, it's over-ripe. A very, very tiny bit of brown here and there is okay, just cut it out.

Second the lime or lemon juice and salt, and GG's suggestions. Sometimes we make a simple salad with very thinly sliced red onion (soaked in ice water for a bit to take out the harshness) with slices of avocado, lime juice, S and P.

Also, which kind did you get, the nubby, dark green, sort of pear-sized/shaped ones or the bigger, smooth skinned brighter green ones?
 
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That's unfortunate. Sometimes it's difficult to find a perfectly ripe one.

Do you have a Mexican restaurant in your town? If so, try some of their guacamole, or another dish that includes avocado. That might give you a good idea of how they're supposed to taste. Rich and buttery.
 
Thanks for the tips guys - and by the sound of it the ones I bought were not ripe, which possibly explains why they tasted so bad.

Does the taste change dramatically as they ripen or does it just improve the texture and make them more palatable?
 
Definitely changes the taste. To me they get a nutty flavor, smooth and creamy texture. My favorite vegetable or is it a fruit? In any case I love them!
 
My favorite way to eat an avocado is to cut it in half, sprinkle with a bit of hot sauce, and scoop out and eat the pulp with a spoon. The shell acts like a dish.
 
ChowDownBob - at the risk of stating the obvious, did you know that avocadoes are savoury? I ask because, the first time I bought an 'avocado pear', I was expecting it to be a fruit and so disliked the taste - thought it had gone off...and threw it away.
 
When you are choosing avocados from the market, the ripe ones are soft to the touch but not mushy. If you buy a harder one, it will ripen in a day or two.

For a quick fix, I mash it with a fork and mix in some mayo, salt and pepper. Then some pita or crackers and it's a meal.
 
ChowDownBob - at the risk of stating the obvious, did you know that avocadoes are savoury? I ask because, the first time I bought an 'avocado pear', I was expecting it to be a fruit and so disliked the taste - thought it had gone off...and threw it away.

They can also be a sweet dish. Lots of mousse recipes out there especially. It's kind of a neutral flavor that lends itself to mixing with other things like GG mentioned in her post.

DG, I'll have to try that. Since I don't normally use hot sauce as a condiment, never thought of that and it does sound good. I'll use hot sauce/spices in recipes but not just by themselves.
 
Well, I answered my own question. Avocados are fruit according to the information on the Internet. Just like tomatoes are technically a fruit but I can't help think of them as a vegetable.
 
One of our favorite restaurants in Mexico makes an avocado pie that's sweet, and absolutely delicious. Another place is famous for their avocado fries. They're a bit mushy, but have good flavor.

Medtran, try it with some Frank's Redhot, or Chipotle Tabasco . Really tasty!
 
ChowDownBob - at the risk of stating the obvious, did you know that avocadoes are savoury? I ask because, the first time I bought an 'avocado pear', I was expecting it to be a fruit and so disliked the taste - thought it had gone off...and threw it away.

Thanks for the info - to be honest I don't know what I expected, but from the replies I think the ones I got weren't ripe, so perhaps I might have enjoyed it more had I left them for a day or two.

So if I buy some more, and they are not ripe - do I leave them out at room temperature to ripen or are they best stored in the fridge?
 
Thanks for the info - to be honest I don't know what I expected, but from the replies I think the ones I got weren't ripe, so perhaps I might have enjoyed it more had I left them for a day or two.

So if I buy some more, and they are not ripe - do I leave them out at room temperature to ripen or are they best stored in the fridge?

Leave them out at room temperature. The cold temps in the fridge will inhibit ripening.
 
My favorite way to eat an avocado is to cut it in half, sprinkle with a bit of hot sauce, and scoop out and eat the pulp with a spoon. The shell acts like a dish.

I'll have to try that with some Sriracha Dawg. My favorite way with a half avocado in the shell is to sprinkle on some garlic powder, and fill the hole with bottled seafood cocktail sauce.

Don't pinch an avocado. Hold it in your hand and gently apply pressure to test for the perfect ripeness. The only thing worse than an under ripe avocado is one that's over ripe.
 
Thanks for the info - to be honest I don't know what I expected, but from the replies I think the ones I got weren't ripe, so perhaps I might have enjoyed it more had I left them for a day or two.

So if I buy some more, and they are not ripe - do I leave them out at room temperature to ripen or are they best stored in the fridge?
They are ripe when there is a little 'give' in them near the pointed end.

To ripen them, if hard, a tip is to place them in a paper bag with a banana. It releases a gas that aids the ripening. I sometimes leave an avocado, by itself, towards the back end of the top of my fridge ...where the heat rises. That works too. A hard one may take about a week to soften at room temperature, e.g. just placed in a bowl.

Then there are degrees of ripeness, i.e. soft yet still reasonably firm or mushy which are good for guacamoles.
 
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Avocados, not only do not taste good when not ripe, they also taste not good when over ripen. Kind of tricky. But Personally i do not like avocado in any stage. But i do love guacamole with avocado being a main ingredient. But like everything else it has to be done right. I would suggest to buy ready made guacamole, but add a little bit more salt. Personally I add more hit too, and more lime juice too.
 
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