Which avocado is better? How to eat avocado - features and methods of preparing the fruit

Avocado is a fruit that is very often used in European cuisine. It is added to sauces, salads, stuffed, made into rolls, and eaten raw. In addition to its taste, it is low in calories. Let's take a closer look at the advice of professionals on how to choose the right ripe fruits in the store.

Some general information about avocados

There are more than 400 types of this fruit. But only three arrive in our stores:

California variety. It has brown skin and soft flesh. It makes amazing puree soups, sandwich pasta, and cocktails. This variety is sold throughout the year. Be careful, under the dark skin, sometimes you may not notice dents and stains.
Florida avocado. It has a light green color and denser flesh. Its skin is thin, so if you plan to eat it raw, you will have to use a knife. It is used for preparing salads, rolls, and due to its low calorie content it is included in the main diet during a diet.
Pinkerton variety. It is distinguished by its dark green color and finely pimpled skin. It has a small seed compared to the Florida variety, which means more pulp. It is considered the best variety for rolls.

Avocados contain large amounts of vitamin E, which protects cells from aging. The use of this fruit will reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, improve memory and lower blood cholesterol.

First you need to make a visual inspection. You need to carefully check the fruit for stains, depressions, rot and other damage. We look at the color of the skin; fruits with a darker color are usually ripe.

Attention! Keep in mind that there are many types of avocados whose skin color varies from dark green to brownish. If you don't know what type is on sale, don't buy the largest fruit. Some types are dark green in color and have a large pit, so if you choose a large avocado, you will end up with little pulp.

Lightly press the fruit. If the pulp was slightly sold, but quickly restored its structure, it means the fruit is ripe; if it is very hard, it is unripe. If, after pressing, the dent is not restored, then the avocado is overripe.

Advice! An unripe avocado will ripen in 3-4 days if stored at home.

The ripeness of the fruit can be achieved with the help of a seed. It is not necessary to cut the fruit in the store, just shake the fruit over your ear. If you hear the pit tapping, the avocado is ripe and tasty. If, no matter how you shake, there are no sounds, do not buy such a fruit, it is still green and unripe.

If you bought an avocado, but are not sure of its ripeness, you can cut off the stalk and see what color the cut area becomes:

a brown mark indicates that the fruit is overripe;
yellow-green color means that the fruit is not ripe;
a bright green cut, slightly moist and a little soft - a sign of a perfectly ripe fruit.

Advice! If you do not plan to eat the fruit immediately after this procedure, drip lemon juice onto the cut so that it does not quickly darken.
How to store avocados after purchasing

Ripe fruit can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 5 days. The main thing is that it lies separately from bananas and apples. The best place is the last shelf of the refrigerator, and make sure that the fruit does not lie next to the back wall, because. may freeze.

What to do if you bought an unripe fruit

This fruit should not be eaten; it should be left to ripen. To do this, place the avocado in a paper bag and wrap it in a towel. In this form, the fruits should be stored in a dark place, at room temperature, for example, in a closet. Depending on how ripe the fruit was, it needs to be kept for 2-10 days. Adding a banana or apple to the bag will help speed up ripening. The fact is that these fruits emit ethylene, which helps accelerate the ripening of avocados.

Avocado is a medium-sized fruit with a thick skin and a pit inside. The pulp of the fruit is widely used in cooking (due to its beneficial properties and delicate taste). Avocados can vary in appearance and some qualities. This article will discuss the variety of fruit varieties.

Peculiarities

The name “avocado” is given to both the evergreen tall tree and the fruits that grow on it. America is considered the birthplace of the plant. However, the fruit is also grown in many other countries around the world. Recently, gardeners in Russia have become interested in this plant, but the fruit is not grown on an industrial scale in our country.

Only ripe fruits that have tender pulp are eaten. They have a light, buttery, creamy flavor with hints of herbs and nuts. The shape of the fruit primarily depends on its variety. The fruit can be round, oval or pear-shaped and have a size of no more than 15 centimeters. By weight, fruits range from 100 g to 1.5 kg.

Avocado skin is dark green and sometimes almost black. The skin, like the inner seed, is not eaten. The color of the pulp also depends on the variety and degree of ripeness of the fruit. It may be light green or light yellow.

Varieties

In total, there are about a thousand varieties of avocados. Most of the species are not widespread and are only an intermediate stage in the selection of popular avocado varieties. All varieties of fruit can be divided into three groups:

West Indian or Antillean;
Mexican;
Guatemalan

Avocados, belonging to the West Indian type, are common in the tropics. The fruits of this species are distinguished by thin skin and delicate pulp. The plant is not resistant to frost, so it can only be grown in hot climates.

Plants belonging to the Mexican species are the most resistant to low temperatures. The trees are unpretentious in care, which allows you to grow such varieties without much effort. The skin of the fruit is soft and almost smooth, and the leaves of the plant have an anise scent. In Russia, those varieties that belong to the Mexican group are grown.

Varieties that belong to the Guatemalan species are characterized by poor frost resistance and are more demanding to care for. The rather large fruits of such plants are covered with a thick skin. The fruit ripening period is one year.

The division into three groups can be called conditional, since many modern varieties are the result of crossing different types of avocados. Today, the most common are about 400 varieties of the plant, which differ from each other in climatic resistance, as well as in the characteristics of the fruit.

Let's look at the description of the most popular varieties of avocados:

Variety "Hass" is one of the most popular and widespread. Such fruits can be found on store shelves throughout the year, regardless of the season. The fruit has an oval shape and a rather dense green peel. When ripe, the color of the peel becomes almost black, with a slight purple tint. Hass avocado is perfect for long-term storage and transportation. The fruits can grow weighing up to 350 g. The pulp with a characteristic oily taste has a soft green color.

Variety "Fuerte" belongs to the Mexican group. The fruits are shaped like a pear. The peel of the fruit is medium thick and has a green tint. The skin of the fruit of the Fuerte variety is easily peeled off. The taste of the pulp can be described as sweet and creamy. The weight of the fruit can reach 400 g. When the fruit ripens, the skin practically does not change its color and remains the same green. The degree of ripeness can be determined by pressing on the fruit. Ripe avocados develop a small dent that disappears in a few seconds.
Pinkerton plants are characterized by high productivity. The fruits have a green tint and an elongated pear shape. The weight of the fruit can reach more than 0.5 kg. The seed inside the pulp is small in size (compared to the seeds of other types of avocados). The skin of the fruit is slightly rough to the touch. The skin of a ripe fruit changes color and becomes darker and richer. The pulp has a light yellow color and a pleasant, slightly sweet taste. This variety has a high oil content.

Avocado "Bacon" refers to Mexican varieties. The fruit has an oval shape. The pulp is covered with a thin, smooth, dark green skin. The fruits of this variety are distinguished by an atypical pale, yellowish-green shade of the pulp. The fruits are not large and their weight reaches no more than 360 g. In terms of taste, the Bacon avocado does not stand out in any way. The taste of the pulp is neutral and very weakly expressed. However, the fruits are distinguished by good juiciness.
For fruits of the "Gwen" variety characterized by a round and slightly elongated shape. The weight of the fruit can reach 450 g. The peel has a dark green tint, and there are small tubercles on its surface. The pulp has a delicate, almost eggy taste.
Plant variety "Reed" bears fruit in summer. The fruits are round in shape and have thick, lumpy skin. The fruits are usually large and can weigh more than half a kilogram. The pulp has a yellowish tint and a pleasant taste that resembles a combination of nuts and pears.

Features of choice

The ripening process of each type of avocado can take place individually. In some cases, the shade of the peel or its density changes. However, certain types of fruit do not change much in appearance when ripe. When choosing a ripe fruit, you can rely on the rules for determining the degree of ripeness, common to all varieties:

The skin should be free of defects such as dents, black spots and cracks. The presence of defects indicates that the fruit is overripe or has begun to rot.
Fruit that is too hard to the touch has not yet reached its full ripening stage. You can buy such a fruit, but you will have to spend some time storing it for it to ripen.
Ripe avocados are soft, which can be determined by pressing on the skin. If, after pressing, the dent does not disappear or a loose consistency is felt, this indicates that the fruit is overripe.

Benefits and harms

Avocados contain many beneficial vitamins and minerals (regardless of the specific variety). The subspecies can only influence the amount of certain substances in the pulp. It is worth noting that the fruit is quite high in calories, but all fats are easily digestible, which is why avocado is so often used in dietetics.

Oleic acid, which is part of the fruit, affects cholesterol, reducing its amount in the body. This property has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. Avocado improves metabolism in the body, lowers blood pressure, stimulates brain function and has a beneficial effect on the skin, preventing early aging.

Harm from the fruit can only be for people with individual intolerance to the fruit. The fruit seed contains toxic substances, so you should not consume it in any form.

Application

Avocado pulp can be consumed both as a separate product and as part of various dishes. In cooking, the fruit is usually used to prepare appetizers and salads. The seed and skin are not eaten.

When using the fruit, you should remember that after peeling and pitting, the pulp quickly oxidizes when exposed to air. This leads to a deterioration in the appearance and taste of the avocado. To avoid this mistake, it is necessary to create contact between the pulp and an acidic environment, namely, sprinkle it with lemon juice.

Avocado is a common ingredient in vegetarian dishes. Due to its composition and neutral taste, the fruit can be used in salads (as an egg substitute). The pulp goes well with red, lightly salted fish and vegetables.

This fruit is practically not used for preparing hot dishes due to some peculiarities. When exposed to high temperatures, the taste of the pulp deteriorates as bitterness appears.

To see how avocado grows in nature, watch the following video.

How to choose the right avocado.

For those who have not yet “made friends” with avocado, we continue our story about this nutritious fruit. The first question that may arise is: How to choose an avocado in a store? As you know, only ripe fruits have the best taste. Therefore, first you need to figure out how to determine the ripeness of an avocado. Ripe avocados are heavy and firm to the touch, but even with light pressure they leave a small dent. Their pulp has a delicate creamy consistency and tastes like a mixture of butter with nuts or pumpkin seeds. Avocados that are too soft to the touch are overripe. They have loose, mushy pulp, which is not always suitable for cooking. Sometimes avocados that are too soft end up spoiled. If the avocados are too hard, it means they are not yet ripe and not as tasty, but it is better to buy just such specimens. The flesh of an unripe avocado is strong, and its taste is reminiscent of an unripe pumpkin or pear. At room temperature, avocados ripen quickly, like bananas, and can be ready to eat in 2-3 days. You can speed up ripening by placing the avocado along with bananas or apples in one paper bag, or keeping the avocado at a temperature of + 25-28 degrees C, wrapping them in paper. It is not recommended to store ripened avocados in the refrigerator for more than five days, as they will darken. If you store unripe avocados in the refrigerator for a long time, they will not ripen, and some varieties of avocados may even spoil. The skin of a ripe avocado is dark green in color and its size and shape resembles a pear. These are the varieties most often offered by our distribution network. When choosing avocados, discard those fruits whose skin is damaged or stained.

How to choose persimmon »

How to peel an avocado.

When you have a ripe avocado in your hands and you are ready to eat it, the question arises, how to peel the avocado? To do this, cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pit. In a ripe avocado, the pit comes off easily. To do this, slightly pry it over its entire diameter with a knife. From the avocado halves, use a spoon to select the pulp and cut it into cubes for salads or knead it to a creamy mass, from which sandwiches, guacamole, pates, pastes, milkshakes, ice cream, desserts and other dishes are prepared. Many people eat raw avocados like apples or pears. There is another way to peel ripe avocados. It is necessary to cut the skin of the resulting halves from beginning to end and, carefully picking it up with a knife, remove it from the avocado. Another way is to peel the avocado like potatoes.

How to cook avocado.

Like all fruits, avocados are best not cooked. This is especially important for avocados, since under the influence of high temperatures, tinin is released in its pulp, and the avocado begins to taste slightly bitter. For this reason, avocados are served separately with hot dishes or placed raw in prepared hot or cold dishes. It is better to cook avocado immediately before consumption, as it oxidizes and darkens when exposed to air. For the same reason, avocados are cooked in dishes made of non-oxidizing materials. To preserve the color of the flesh, sprinkle the avocado with lemon or lime juice, or add this juice to avocado dishes. Citric or acetic acid can replace juice. Another way to preserve the color of the pulp is to put an avocado pit in it.

How to eat avocado.

The easiest way to get your fill of avocado is to spread the pulp of a ripe avocado on bread or toast, add salt, season with spices if desired, and eat it as a sandwich. But avocado goes well with many foods, adding a pleasant flavor to a variety of dishes and drinks. You can make salads, sandwiches, cold side dishes, and soups from avocados. It is great with cucumber, tomatoes, shrimp, fish, caviar, chicken. In Brazil, avocado is used mainly as a fruit in desserts and cocktails, in Hawaii - in sweet fruit salads. Avocado pulp is served with sweet, strong coffee and eaten instead of dessert.

Guacamole. Recipe: Avocado Guacamole Sauce.

In the homeland of avocados in Mexico, the most popular dish is guacamole. In modern cooking, guacamole can be classified as thick sauces. Guacamole sauce is a mixture of mashed avocado pulp, lemon juice or lime juice and salt. Often, finely chopped tomatoes, onions, spices, mayonnaise, etc. are added to this composition. Guacamole in Mexico is often served with corn chips, but guacamole sauce is also good with crackers, bread or croutons. The combination and set of products in guacamole may be different. Here is one option for making avocado guacamole sauce.

Knowing how to choose an avocado, you don’t have to worry that the fruit you purchase will turn out to be tasteless or overripe. This exotic fruit gained popularity not so long ago, but has already become a favorite of many.

The fruit has a spherical or slightly elongated shape (can be from 7 to 20 cm long). Many people don’t even know what it is – a fruit or a vegetable. The fact is that, according to all the laws of biology, this is a fruit, since it grows on a tree and has a seed inside. But in terms of its taste, it is more reminiscent of a vegetable: it contains little sugar, and it is similar to pine nuts and butter due to its oily consistency. But still, avocado is considered a fruit, although it is often used to prepare a variety of salads with sour and salty sauces.

A tasty avocado has a composition rich in vitamins and various elements; it is also often called a natural antioxidant.

Calorie content varies from 200 to 220 kcal. It depends on the fat content of the fruit, its variety and the geography of cultivation.

Main signs of ripe fruit

You can choose a ripe avocado based on several criteria:

dark green skin color;
soft but elastic consistency;
peeling of the bone.

Ripe fruits must be eaten immediately, as they spoil very quickly. If they need to be kept for a few more days, it is better to wrap the product in paper and place it in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator.

Fruits cut in half can be stored for no more than 2 days. The cut area often darkens, so it is advisable to treat it with lemon juice and wrap it in film.

If the fruits are about to start to spoil and there is no way to eat them now, you can grind them into puree and freeze them. This will help preserve the beneficial properties to the maximum.

Criteria for selecting a mature fruit

Sometimes it is not easy to choose a ripe fruit, since the upper layers have already acquired softness and juiciness, but the inner ones still retain astringency and hardness. On plantations, the crop is always harvested slightly unripe so that it can withstand transportation normally. Therefore, finding the perfect fruit right on the counter is quite difficult.

By color and softness

Ripe specimens are covered with a thin skin of dark green (closer to brown) color. Such fruits can be consumed immediately after purchase. A light shade of green indicates that the fruit is not yet ripe. Moderate green is proof that the fruit will be ready to eat in about 3 days. The rich greenness of the peel is direct evidence of almost complete readiness for consumption.

California avocados have black skin. This is natural for the fruits of this variety. They are very soft and don't hold their shape at all. Therefore, they are most often used to prepare various snacks such as pates, sauces and purees. The pulp of this fruit can simply be spread on slices of bread instead of butter.

However, you should not focus solely on the shade: the main thing is elasticity. You need to take the fruit in your hand and try to squeeze it with your fingers. This must be done very carefully, otherwise you may suffer from dissatisfaction with sellers if an overripe avocado falls apart right in your hands. If the flesh is elastic and hard, it means that the fruit has not yet reached the required degree of ripeness. The easily pressed pulp, which remains even after the fingers are removed, indicates that the fruit is already overripe. Such fruits should not be taken, as they may turn out to be rotten inside.

By cutting

In a well-ripened fruit, the pulp peels off from the seed, so you can also focus on this. You need to bring the fruit to your ear and shake it lightly. If you hear a tapping sound, it means you can buy such a fruit. If there are no sounds, the fruit is not yet ripe, so the pulp still sticks tightly to the stone.

Which avocado should you not buy?

You should not buy unripe fruit, as it will definitely not be able to fully demonstrate its taste. But you can take the fruits for future use, wrap them in a bag at home and leave them in a dark place for 48-72 hours, periodically checking their condition. During this time they will become soft. To speed up the process, you can put a ripe banana inside. The main thing is not to miss the moment of ripening, otherwise the fruits may spoil.

Specimens with numerous brown pimples, spots and dents are completely unusable, since the process of rotting has already begun in them.

You need to choose this tasty, dietary and healthy product correctly, so that you don’t regret wasting money later.

Avocado is a fruit beloved by many, but it is not always easy to find it, and even more difficult to choose - they often lie on the shelves unripe and hard. And yet this is not a reason to deny yourself pleasure, but just a matter of time and patience. We learned from the owner of the Avocado Point cafe about how to choose avocados, what varieties there are, which ones you should pay attention to and, of course, how an avocado should ripen correctly.

How to choose?

Elina Osipova

owner of the Avocado Point bar chain

The avocado fruit is first and foremost a berry, and the ripeness of any berry is determined by how easily it can be picked from the bush. While we in Russia do not pick avocados from the trees and all the fruits are delivered in a semi-finished state, there are a couple of simple ways to determine the ripeness of an avocado: softness gives us the first message about ripeness, but we should not rely on this alone, since even moderately soft ones can be unripe, overripe and, worse, rotten inside.

When purchasing, it is important to look at the stalk; it should separate quite easily, but not fall off on its own - this is the first sign that the avocado is rotten. The color of the fruit under the cutting is also important, it should be a confident light yellow, a little greenish, the main thing is not dark, otherwise it will be dark inside.

What varieties are there?

Avocados are the star of fruits, with hundreds of varieties available in different shapes, sizes, colors, flavors and textures. The most popular and present on the shelves:

"Hass"- black peel, round shape and small seed size, delicate oily texture, yellow flesh and slightly nutty taste, ideal for guacamole. “Hass” is also pleasant because it is easy to transport and ripens well, rarely spoiling and turning black. The most reliable variety. Season - all year round, brought from Kenya, Israel, South Africa, Mexico.

"Fuerte"- green peel, elongated shape, seed, usually small. This variety has a more herbaceous taste, is more unstable in ripening, and the flesh is white-yellow. Season: summer and autumn.

"Ettinger"- thin green peel, drop-shaped, but a very large stone, this is a significant disadvantage of this variety, because the weight of the fruit is quite large - 200–250 grams, there is not much pulp in it, and the stone inside quickly begins to become overgrown with a white coating, which is why the fruit itself loses its taste and turns into a potato. Season from September to January.

"Pinkerton"- pimply skin, small pit, yellower at the pit and lighter at the edges, pear-shaped. The skin peels off easily, like the Hass, but the weight is usually greater. Season - autumn - spring.

There are also more exotic varieties that can be found in markets like Usachevsky and Danilovsky:

Semil 34- very tasty, oval in shape, often similar to a ball, the weight of one fruit is up to a kilogram, and the pure pulp is about 65–70%. It is very important that, despite the fact that the variety is from the hot Dominican Republic, it is frost-resistant, that is, it can be stored for a long time and nothing will harm it. It has several stages of ripening and this changes the taste. The finished “semil” has a fresh, fruity taste, juicy, and can be eaten even just like that, not very good for guacamole, as it will be watery. However, let it overripe slightly, and it will be exactly like “hass”, that is, it will become oily, a nutty taste will appear, and the flesh will turn bright yellow.

"Royal Black Avocado" from Burma and Vietnam. This variety is very similar to the giant “hass”: black dense peel and unusual pulp. The shape of an ideal ball and a small stone, this variety produces the most delicious and beautiful guacamole, as the pulp has a canary yellow color. This variety can occasionally be found on shelves in specialized exotic fruit stores. The season is very short - December - March.

What to do with the unripe?

Finding ripe avocados on the shelves is not always easy - the reality is that most often we buy firm avocados and wait for them to ripen. Question: how to do this faster? There are a lot of videos on the Internet showing how to quickly ripen an avocado: some bake it in foil, others put it with bananas. My method does not guarantee ripening in two hours, but it certainly will not ruin the taste and texture, which, in my opinion, is the most important thing.