Sometimes it is difficult to find ripe exotic fruits on the shelves of our stores, and this is not due to the irresponsibility of sellers or administration, the difficulty lies in exporting foreign products. Especially things like avocados.
This fruit has a delicate, creamy texture that is difficult to preserve during transportation. That is why vegetables and fruits from warm countries They are transported green, not ripe. During the journey, they ripen, and final ripening occurs on the shelves of the supermarket. And of course, this fact greatly influences the taste of the product: it’s one thing when fruits hang on branches under the hot sun, soaking up the rays and fresh air., and it’s a completely different matter when unripe fruits are carefully packaged and processed, “floating” or “flying” around the world to ultimately end up on our table.
How to tell if an avocado is ripe
In any case, enjoy exotic vitamins you always want to, but to get maximum pleasure from it, you need to learn how to choose the right fruits. How to choose an avocado and not make a mistake? In the case of avocados, always pay attention to its color. The hard peel is light or dark green or brown (brown) in color, sometimes with small, light inclusions - without any dark or yellow spots or sudden changes in color. Initially, any avocado is green. As it ripens green variety becomes darker, and the brown variety changes color from light green to brown. Therefore, on this variety of “alligator pear”, green spots the size of a 5-kopeck coin can sometimes remain. This fruit is quite suitable for eating.
To be sure the avocado is ripe, gently press on the top (narrower) part of the fruit. The pulp should be soft, like slightly melted butter. When pressed, the peel will press through a little; there should be no dents left. If the avocado is softer, then most likely it has already gone bad.
From the moment you press hard on the fruit, it will begin to spoil. The very next day a dark spot will appear in this place, and very soon the fruit will no longer be suitable for food.
Another important point: to find out if an avocado has gone bad, you need to listen to the sound of the pit inside the fruit. Take the “alligator pear” in your hands and jog a little. You should hear a faint, dull sound of the bone hitting the walls. If there is no sound, then it is better to choose another fruit.
So, to choose a ripe avocado, pay attention to three things:
- fruit color
- pulp density
- bone sound
How to speed up ripening
Most often, there are no soft avocados in the vegetable departments; all the fruits are hard and not ripe. In this case, choose fruit without dents, scratches or other damage. Try to choose the softest one so that the fruit can ripen at home. Wrap the avocado in newspaper and then place it in a baggie. natural fabric(or wrap it in a piece of fabric). Place 1 dried chili pepper between the newspaper and the bag. This way the avocado will ripen much faster.
If you can't do this, store avocados at room temperature. Do not leave the fruit in the sun or put it in the refrigerator. Within 2-7 days, the alligator pear will “arrive.” At this time, try not to put pressure on the fruit, checking its ripeness, so as not to further injure the delicate pulp.
Peeling a ripe avocado is very easy! Take a non-sharp knife and cut off a small piece of peel near the stalk. Then peel off the skin as you would normally peel potatoes. Remove the peel in a circle and then remove the sides of the peel by hand.
Then cut the avocado lengthwise into two parts. In one of the parts there will be large stone. Carefully remove the pit so that the flesh remains intact.
Now you can cut the avocado for a salad or other dish.
Avocado instead of eggs
Many people think that ripe avocado tastes like... boiled eggs. IN vegetarian recipes Eggs are often replaced with avocado slices. Yes, quite exotic option, and not cheap. However, the result is worth it!
A little secret: salt the avocado pulp with pink (or black) salt to make the fruit even more like chicken eggs. Now this fruit can replace eggs in classic recipes salads, for example in Olivier.
What to cook with avocado
One of the simplest and most delicious “dishes” is avocado pulp with salt, black pepper and lemon juice (literally a few drops). If you are eating an avocado for the first time, then try the fruit in this form: cut the “alligator pear” into two halves without removing the peel. Remove the pit from the pulp. Salt and pepper the halves and sprinkle with lemon juice. Eat with a teaspoon.
Avocado can also be used to make Mexican pasta guacamole, salad with spicy chips, avocado pulp with garlic and spices can be used to make delicious.
Avocados are rarely cooked, as this causes the fruit to lose its flavor.
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 simple ways determine the ripeness of an avocado: softness gives us the first indication of ripeness, but we should not rely on this alone, since even a moderately soft one 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?
Avocado is the star of fruits, there are hundreds of varieties different forms, sizes, colors, tastes and textures. The most popular and present on the shelves:
"Hass"- black peel, round form and small seed size, delicate oily texture, yellow flesh and slightly nutty taste, perfect 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 more exotic varieties, which can be found in markets like Usachevsky and Danilovsky:
Semil 34- very tasty, oval shape, often looks like 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 you can even eat it just like that, not great 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 stores. exotic fruits. 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.
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 It gained popularity not so long ago, but has already become a favorite of many.
Description, composition and calorie content of avocado
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 their own way taste properties it is more like a vegetable: it has little sugar, it resembles pine nuts and butter due to its oily consistency. But still, avocado is considered a fruit, although it is often used for cooking 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
Choose ripe avocado possible 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 begin to spoil, and there is no way to eat them now, you can grind them into puree and freeze them. This will help to preserve as much as possible beneficial features.
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.
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 full readiness for use.
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 for cooking various snacks by type of 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.
At first glance, all the fruits seem the same, but take your time. If you take a closer look at the color of the skin, you will see that it is different. Avocado has several varieties. Depending on the season, one or another species appears on the shelves. Here are the main representatives:
- Californian variety. The most common variety that is on store shelves all year round. Its main feature is a dark brown skin with pimples. The pulp is light green in color with a faint smell of freshness, a little soft. A light brown seed is hidden inside under a layer of pulp. The Californian variety is used for cutting into salads, making rolls and various snacks;
- Florida variety. The fruits appear no earlier than autumn, since it is after summer that their rapid ripening begins. The skin is glossy, mostly green. The pulp is lean, but with big amount juice inside. The bone is round. white;
- Pinkerton. Main hallmark Pinkerton from other representatives – availability small stone inside the pulp. The skin is pimply and its color is dark green. Pinkerton is sold year-round, as ripening occurs regardless of the time of year.
Interesting!
100 g of avocado pulp contains 150 kcal.
Try to buy fruit in trusted places where there is a large selection. If there are several varieties, then think about the purpose for which you are purchasing the fruit. Thus, the Florida variety and Pinkerton are more suitable for consumption in fresh just. But the pulp of a Californian avocado can even be spread on a loaf.
Criterias of choice
Before you rush to buy fruits, take a closer look at them. Turn the avocado in your hands, is there any damage to the skin? If yes, then take another fruit and evaluate it. There should be no deep scratches or cracks on the skin. If the fruit emits a specific pungent odor, the process of rotting has most likely already begun. Rate the fruit according to several other criteria:
- peel color. It should be dark green or brown depending on the variety. Do not buy fruits that are too light, they are not yet ripe. A dark avocado is most likely already overripe and should be eaten as soon as possible;
- hardness. Try squeezing the fruit lightly with your fingers and evaluate how you feel. If, after pressing, deep dents remain on the peel, then the pulp has already turned into “porridge”. When the fruit does not shrink at all, it is not yet ripe, the pulp most likely still tastes bitter. The surest sign good avocado like this: after compression, fingerprints remained, but they quickly disappeared;
- stalk A brown tail indicates that the fruit was picked a long time ago and has already fully ripened. The green stalk indicates the opposite.
Even if you accidentally bought an unripe avocado, do not throw it away. The fruit will ripen normally at home. Wrap it in plain paper, leave in a warm room for 2-3 days.
Attention!
To make your avocado ripen faster, place a ripe banana next to it.
How to clean
Peeling the fruit is as easy as shelling pears; even an inexperienced person can do it in a couple of minutes. Take a sharp knife and cutting board, and then proceed to cleanup. For convenience, the process is described in stages:
- wash the avocado, then pat dry with napkins;
- make deep cuts on the sides to divide the fruit into 2 halves. Carefully turn the halves in different directions: this way you will see the bone;
- pry the seed with a knife and carefully remove it from the pulp;
- Remove the skin from the halves with a knife. Peeling it is quite easy, you don’t need to take a knife, just pick up the tip of the peel with your fingers, pull it down, it will come off by itself;
- cut the fruit into slices or squares, as you prefer.
You don’t have to remove the pulp from the peel, for example, but eat it directly with a spoon. Remember that fruit should not be stored for a long time after cutting. A cut avocado can last for a maximum of 2-3 days and only if low temperature. Before storing half of the fruit for storage, wrap the cut area cling film and put it in the refrigerator. Avocados absorb strong foreign odors well, so storing smelly foods like onions and garlic nearby is not recommended.
As it is
It all depends on your taste, as well as the availability of free time. The easiest way is to sprinkle the pulp with lemon juice, add a little salt and eat with a spoon. Instead of lemon juice you can take soy sauce. In Europe, toast is prepared with the pulp for breakfast. Take pieces of toasted bread and spread the pulp on them. Top your sandwich with a couple of slices of bacon or fish fillet. You can even fry an egg or add baked chicken breast. Breakfast will be unusual and very filling.
Avocado is served as a side dish meat dishes or to a bird. Bake beef steak with Italian herbs in foil, place peeled fruit slices on a plate along with the meat and sprinkle with lemon. Garnish the dish with parsley sprigs. You can use fruit pulp for cooking various sauces. Make a salad dressing: mix the pulp from one avocado with spices and low-fat yogurt, don’t forget to add salt. In addition to seasoning, avocado is suitable for cooking pureed soups; it will add additional tenderness to the taste.
Avocado is one of the most “unusual” exotic fruits that hits our store shelves. And this despite the fact that it’s been a long time since the 21st century! Most of us, when we see an avocado, experience both feelings of interest and danger. After all, we do not know what is hidden under the green peel of this “alligator pear”, and therefore we expect everything from it. And in general...
Avocado – fruit or vegetable?Avocado is so exotic fruit for our country that some people still consider it a vegetable. Although this product cannot be a vegetable, because it grows on trees, the height of which often exceeds 10 and even 15 meters! Therefore, remember and tell others: avocado is a fruit. Unusual, mysterious, but still a fruit.
What is its feature? Judge for yourself…
Absolutely all parts of the avocado, except the pulp, are poisonous (they won’t kill you, but they can ruin your health). Therefore, to eat an avocado, you must either peel it (which is only accessible to humans) or swallow it whole. However, large animals capable of swallowing an avocado whole have not survived to this day (all died out a long time ago).
As a result, widespread distribution of this type of plant is impossible (animals cannot spread it around within their own gastrointestinal tract). And this inevitably should have led to the complete disappearance of avocados as a species thousands of years ago. But for some reason this did not happen. That is why avocados are often called an “evolutionary anachronism” that has survived to our time only by miracle. Fortunately, this fruit is now cultivated by people, so its extinction is now likely to be postponed indefinitely.
This representative of the laurel family is grown in Mexico, Chile, the USA, China, Spain and other tropical countries, including Israel, from where avocados now mainly come to our supermarkets.
Under the skin of the avocado there is a very nutritious edible pulp, and inside it - inedible pit(contains toxins). This fruit tastes very much like butter, especially if you mix it with a “pinch” walnut. On the other hand, each person perceives avocado differently, and your opinion may be completely different from the opinion of all gourmets in the world combined. Therefore, let's move away from discussing the subjective properties of avocados and move on to the objective ones...
Chemical composition of avocado
What are the benefits of avocado?
First of all, avocado is beneficial due to its high nutritional value– more than 150 kcal per 100 grams of pulp. Which is equivalent to 20-25 grams butter, but without a single milligram of cholesterol!
Of course, many women can now throw up their hands and think: “Here you go.” dietary product..." However, you should not lose hope, because eating avocados can still lead to weight loss. The main thing is to choose proper diet(With minimum quantity animal fats).
At the same time, another aspect is extremely important - after studying several recipes with avocados, you can feed your beloved men tasty and satisfying without fear of damaging their fragile cardiovascular system. Thus, you have the opportunity to extend their life for years and even decades! With avocados, there is a risk of developing atherosclerosis, hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases decreases by tens of percent. True, to achieve such results, you will have to almost completely exclude saturated animal fats from your diet, which carry excess cholesterol into our body.
Avocado helps maintain normal hemoglobin levels in the blood. But not at the expense large quantity iron, but due to the presence of copper in it, without which iron cannot be absorbed in the body.
The beneficial properties of avocado extend to gastrointestinal tract. According to nutritionists, the fruits of this plant do an excellent job of cleansing the intestines of harmful microorganisms, waste and toxins, which makes avocado a very worthy “cure” for constipation and eating disorders.
Thanks to the abundance of B vitamins, avocado is useful for anyone who experiences constant stress and has problems with nervous system. This fatty fruit nourishes and strengthens nerve fibers, simultaneously increasing alertness and the ability to remember information.
The same thing happens with skin, which is exposed to nutrients, contained in avocados, becomes smooth, silky and moderately moisturized. Which in turn leads to a gradual smoothing of wrinkles.
In addition, it is believed that avocados can help cure diseases of the liver, kidneys, and eyes, and also protect the body from cancer and premature aging.
As you can see, the benefits of avocado are obvious. All that remains is to deal with the damage...
Harmful effects of avocado and contraindications for its consumption
There is only one contraindication to consuming avocado pulp – individual intolerance to the fruit.
As for the harm, it has not been detected at this time. But this does not mean at all that you can eat kilograms of avocados, because this will inevitably lead to weight gain. excess weight and oversaturation of the body with the same type of fats, which, despite their naturalness, still cannot replace the entire range of fatty acids necessary for a person.
And, of course, we should mention harmful properties seeds, which contain toxins.
As a result, we have the following: if you don’t want problems, don’t eat avocado seeds and don’t overeat.
How to choose a ripe avocado
Due to the fact that avocados are a rare guest on our table, choosing an avocado in a store most often comes down to an external examination of the fruit in order to exclude mechanical damage and outright rot. At the same time, we can easily take a hard avocado, relying on the “features of the variety,” and then tell everyone who asks that avocado is not such a tasty fruit.
Naturally, experimental path- the most faithful. However, it is better to back up “experiments” with at least some theory. Therefore, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with and carefully remember the following criteria for choosing a ripe avocado:
- There should be no external damage or outright rot (well, you already knew that).
- The peel should be elastic (not hard or loose). Although variations are possible here, because you can plan to eat an avocado in a week - then the unripe fruit can be taken. In this case, you just need to put it in paper bag or wrap it in newspaper and leave it in a dark place with room temperature air.
It should also be understood that varietal differences still exist. For example, Florida avocados have a more delicate peel, while Californian and Pinkerton avocados have a tougher “crocodile” skin. Be sure to take this into account when choosing.
- The bone should make noise when shaken. More precisely, not the bone itself, but its core. In a noisy place, the sound of the core is extremely difficult to hear, so don’t be shy – bring it to your ear and listen.
- In Florida avocados, the seed is large, in other varieties it is smaller. At first glance, this is a rather important factor that allows you not to overpay for a useless and toxic bone. However, if we take into account that the taste of different varieties Since avocados vary dramatically, skimping on the pit is not the wisest decision.
The size of an avocado fruit, like its color, has nothing to do with the ripeness of the fruit. Therefore, choose an elastic, “noisy” and in all respects clean fruit, and you definitely won’t regret it!
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