Guacamole is considered an international dip in the modern era. It goes great with just about anything – from tortilla chips all the way to crackers. We serve it here for obvious reasons. If you want to sell tacos in Salt Lake City, you have to include guacamole on the menu.
We thought it might be interesting to look at some of the hidden secrets of guacamole. To that end, we have listed below five things you might not know about this heavenly food. If you do know them already, that’s great. Don’t spoil the surprise for someone else. Instead, send them a link to this post and then invite them to join you at Taqueria27, your favorite Salt Lake City Mexican restaurant.
1. Ripeness Makes a Difference
The fruit of the avocado tree is scientifically considered a berry. This is important for restaurant owners because ripeness is especially important when it comes to all sorts of berries. A berry that is not ripe enough doesn’t quite give the same flavor. One that is too ripe is soft, squishy, and off-color. All of this is true of the avocado.
Few natural foods are as picky as avocado. We have to be careful of this when making our guacamole. We want a uniformly black avocado with no soft spots. We do not want it too firm, though. The skin of a perfectly ripe avocado should ‘give’ slightly when applying gentle pressure. That’s what we look for.
2. Freshness is Key
Avocado does have a shelf life, especially as preservatives are added. But the best guacamole is fresh guacamole. It has been our experience that guacamole is best served on the same day it is made. If we can serve it within just a few hours, that’s optimal. Fresh guacamole looks the best, offers the best flavor, and has that perfect texture. If guacamole has to be stored overnight, it should be stored in an airtight container.
3. Mash It like Potatoes
Avocado and mashed potatoes are similar in terms of their texture. Mash your avocado just like you would potatoes but be careful not to overdo it. You want to work the avocado just enough to make it a bit chunky and slightly creamy. Like potatoes, over mixing can turn your avocado into a gooey, pasty mess.
4. Not Just for Bread and Crackers
We tend to think of guacamole as a spread for bread products and crackers. Even when you serve it with great Mexican food, guacamole tends to be used with tortilla chips or right inside the taco itself. But that’s not all there is to it. Guacamole works well with a lot of different things. Use it as a dip for your cucumbers or put a dollop on your sliced tomatoes. Use it as a replacement for mayonnaise as a sandwich spread.
5. Guacamole is International
We began this post by stating that guacamole is considered an international dip. That statement wasn’t just a creative way to start a blog post. It is absolutely true. While we may think of guacamole as primarily a Mexican food, it is not. It is appropriate to a range of cuisines depending on how it’s customized.
Guacamole is very popular in Japanese, Thai, Middle Eastern, and even Scandinavian cuisines. The Japanese customize it by adding the wasabi, sesame seed oil, and edamame. In the Middle East, finely chopped mint along with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds give it an interesting flavor. There are lots of ways to customize guacamole to bring it out of the Mexican box it is so often confined to.
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