Cooking avocado?

[sparky_1]

I thought I read years ago that cooking avocado was a no-no; that it turns them bitter.

I stumbled upon an article today that had a few cooking recipes that included avocado being cooked.

So, tell me about your experiences cooking avocado. Any tips? How does it affect the taste?

[Johnny_L.A]

I don’t cook avocado. They’re too good as they are.

[sparky_1]

@Johnny_L.A

I don’t cook avocado. They’re too good as they are.

It’s hard to get good ones in NH.

Now in Chile, they seem to have them with every meal. They are sooo good down there! Sliced avocado with peeled, sliced tomato, lemon juice and a little salt. Yum!

Anyway, since fresh ones are hard to come by here, I’m curious about cooking them.

[tapu]

In Spanish *avocado *means “that which is not cooked.”

[ZipperJJ]

I made an avocado cheesecake once, it was fine. Of course that is low and slow cooking so perhaps the bitterness didn’t get a chance to happen, chemically.

[Rick]

I have seen recipes for an egg cooked inside an avocado half. I’ve never tried it.

[Johnny_L.A]

@tapu

In Spanish *avocado *means “that which is not cooked.”

Avocado etymology

The word “avocado” comes from the Spanish aguacate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word āhuacatl [aːˈwakat͡ɬ],which goes back to the proto-Aztecan *pa:wa which also meant “avocado”. Sometimes the Nahuatl word was used with the meaning “testicle”, probably because of the likeness between the fruit and the bodypart.

In other central-American and Caribbean Spanish-speaking countries it is known by the Mexican name, while South-American Spanish-speaking countries use a Quechua-derived word, Palta. In Portuguese it is abacate. The fruit is sometimes called an avocado pear or alligator pear (due to its shape and the rough green skin of some cultivars). The Nahuatl ahuacatl can be compounded with other words, as in ahuacamolli, meaning avocado soup or sauce, from which the Spanish word guacamole derives.

The modern English name is not etymologically related to the similar sounding Spanish word abogado, meaning ‘lawyer’ (as in advocate), but comes through an English rendering of the Spanish “aguacate” as “avogato”. The earliest known written use in English is attested from 1697 as “Avogato Pear”, a term which was later corrupted as “alligator pear”. Because the word avogato sounded like “advocate” several languages reinterpreted it to have that meaning. French uses Avocat, which also means lawyer, and “advocate”-forms of the word appear in several Germanic languages, such as the German Advogato-Birne, the old Danish advokat-pære (today it is called “avocado”) and the Dutch advocaatpeer. It is known as “butter fruit” in parts of India. In eastern China it is known as è lí (鳄梨, a direct translation of “alligator pear”) or huángyóu guǒ (黄油果, “butter fruit”). In Taiwan, it is known as lùo lí (酪梨, “cheese pear”).

[Johnny_L.A]

@sparky_1

It’s hard to get good ones in NH.

Now in Chile, they seem to have them with every meal. They are sooo good down there! Sliced avocado with peeled, sliced tomato, lemon juice and a little salt. Yum!

Anyway, since fresh ones are hard to come by here, I’m curious about cooking them.

I made a mistake four or five years ago. I bought a couple of avocados from Florida. They were huge. I thought I got a bargain. Turns out, these smooth-skinned avocados tasted watery. Like water with avocado essence. Never again.

Haas avocados are what I grew up with. (My maternal grandmother had a tree in her back yard.) These are the smaller, knobbly ones. The SO insists on California-grown Haas avocados. She’ll buy Chilean ones if she has to, and eschews ones grown in Mexico. IME, California-grown Haas avocados really are the best; perhaps because of the shorter distance they need to travel, which allows them to be picked later. I’ve found Chilean ones to be good, too. Maybe the distance is great enough for them to ripen a bit? I don’t know. I’ve had poor luck with Mexican-grown ones, though I’ve had some good ones from there as well.

Supermarket avocados, even if they were grown in California, can be a little hit-and-miss. The most consistently good avocados I buy come from Trader Joe’s. I buy the four-pack of them. They’re not as egregiously overpriced as others, and they are usually reliably good.

ETA: Maybe those tasteless Florida avocados are good for cooking.

.

[chiroptera]

I agree with Johnny L.A.'s assessment of the larger, smoother avocados. Many moons ago I lived in California for a while and had two Haas avocado trees in my front yard…we couldn’t eat them or give them away fast enough and most rotted. I adore avocados just about any which-way but have never cooked them. I’d be afraid of losing that rich avocado-ey goodness and texture.

They are good as a garnish or topping for many cooked foods though - eggs, burritos or quesadillas, fish poached or sauteed with lime juice.

[Chefguy]

@chiroptera

I agree with Johnny L.A.'s assessment of the larger, smoother avocados. Many moons ago I lived in California for a while and had two Haas avocado trees in my front yard…we couldn’t eat them or give them away fast enough and most rotted. I adore avocados just about any which-way but have never cooked them. I’d be afraid of losing that rich avocado-ey goodness and texture.

They are good as a garnish or topping for many cooked foods though - eggs, burritos or quesadillas, fish poached or sauteed with lime juice.

Our friends in Uganda had a gigantic avocado tree in their yard. Whenever they made guac, they would just go out and kick the tree, run, and then pick up the windfall. They brought buckets of the stuff to every party.

[Hockey_Monkey]

I have a recipe for Avocado Sweet Potato and Chipolte soup that is outstanding. I would have never thought that it would all work, but it’s perfect. My only tweak to the recipe is I double the sweet potato and halve the chipolte for my own taste.

Fun fact: avocados don’t ripen until they are picked from the tree, so you can leave them there till you are ready for them. (But don’t leave them too long…if they fall on their own the oil in them has gone rancid and they are no good.) Cite (even though it’s a blog, it’s got correct info and several other interesting avocado facts)

[Bridget_Burke]

I’ll go with the crowd: Haas avocados are the best & they generally aren’t for cooking.

However, I’ve had an omelet filled with cheese & a few slices of avocado. Which hardly gets “cooked” since an omelet cooks so quickly.

There used to be a Mexican restaurant in town that sold whole, stuffed, deep fried avocados. The shrimp stuffing was the best. Have no idea how they did it…

[Ulfreida]

@Johnny_L.A

Avocado etymology

I think you wuz whooshed there.

[Chronos]

I’ve used guacamole in a few vaguely Mexican-ish baked dishes. It turns a really ugly-looking shade of black, but the taste is fine.

[kayaker]

I usually buy Haas, but recently bought some other type with a small pit. They were surprisingly good!

[seal_cleaner]

I had avocado fries at a restaurant once. Avocados really don’t need that kind of help. They also had kangaroo steaks (didn’t try that). This was in Branson, MO, which surprised but didn’t please me.

[tapu]

@Johnny_L.A

Avocado etymology

Buzzkill.

[Pyper]

I’ve been to a bar that served deep-fried avocado slices. Really, it was just like a warm avocado with breading- fresh, uncooked avocado slices would have been better.

[Johnny_L.A]

Come to think of it, I’ve had avocado fries. I prefer raw avocado.

[China_Guy]

Avocado oil for cooking at high temps seems to be getting popular.