By Carmen Rioja
If you are interested in Mexican culture, the taste of life seasoned at the moment, vegan foods, health, or you just want to eat guacamole with tortilla chips as you watch soccer, baseball, Olympics, or a boxing match, you are about to read some of the best kept secrets.
The post-pandemic world demands a new kind of guide: one that resolves the fact that we don’t know what we don’t know. Gurus save us the time-consuming step of waiting and going through a learning process. The next super influencers will be those who reveal “what you don’t know, you don’t know.”
The desire to dominate the world is a danger, but so is not observing the world around us and paying attention. Observe, listen, learn, and then do. We all want to jump to the end. What do I need and how do I get it now? There is nothing more Mexican than guacamole, and it has many cultural secrets.
Avocado is the green gold of America. Nothing equals the exquisite pleasure of a slice of avocado with a little salt, or a good guacamole taco. Nopales are as precious as avocados, and together they make the best party, and one of the most sophisticated gourmet experiences. I will tell you what many still do not know. Store-bought guacamole is not guacamole. Day-old guacamole is not guacamole.
Avocados have become so expensive that many taquerias and cheap dining rooms, as well as chain supermarkets, invent all kinds of fake guacamoles that remains green for up to fifteen days. But those contain everything, except avocado or hardly any at all. Did you know that fake guacamole is made from poached zucchini, among other ingredients?
Because of market demands, there are already guacamole-flavored products with all the necessary chemicals to make it look healthy, green, have a smooth texture, and not turn black with contact with air. These are artificial products.
People in Mexico have become a complacent—we are the scenery and the staff behind a tourist fantasy. We need to make our own guacamole, although avocados are not always there. First of all, because nature dictates the harvest season. And second, because the countryside and the peasants are under constant threat from criminal cartels, as well as from the mafias of intermediaries, and large corporations. The avocado is native to America—it is mentioned in the Codex of Mendoza and Borgia. And its consumption dates back to the first civilizations. These oval-shaped black fruits taste even more delicious if you wait for them to ripen on the branch—never before. Enjoy them just fallen from the tree and slightly crushed by the blow of the fall. That’s why when nature gives avocados, you have to take the time to savor and enjoy. Sharing helps us learn about the origin of things. Guacamole calls for sharing at the center of any table or meeting. Mexicans often think they have been ground, beaten, crushed, but they always finds the gold of things after crossing the swamp. That is why the king at the center of the Mexican party will always be guacamole.
1. The best avocados are available on the market. You have to order them «for today.» If you choose them yourself, or at the supermarket, you need to know that choosing avocados is an art. On the outside they should look almost black, not too green. They should be handled with extreme care and should feel more firm than soft to the touch—like pasta al dente.
2. The recipe: Once you have the best avocados, you are ready to make guacamole. Open the avocados in half vertically, remove the pit with the help of a firm knife. Tap the edge of the knife on the pit so it penetrates a little, then twist to easily remove it. Now with a spoon, scoop out the pulp. You can either dice the avocado halves or mash them with a fork.
Ingredients:
● 2 avocados
● 1 sprig chopped fresh coriander
● 1 saladet tomato finely cubed
● ¼ onion finely chopped
● 2 cloves garlic minced very fine
● 1 lime
● 1 tablespoon extra virgin oil
● Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, adding lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and a little pepper. Accompany with corn chips, hot tortillas or bread sticks—or pork crackling right out of the box, and some pickled nopales. In addition, in Mexico it is customary that there is hot sauce to put on top of the guacamole when you place it on something. Bon Appetite!
My three restaurant recommendations for the best guacamole in San Miguel de Allende: Don Tomás, Hecho en México, El Correo.
«Primitive in its ancestry, already lost
In the annals of fertile history,
The avocado was on its path
Of virgin forest, a green old man.
The Aztec king bit into it, and the empire
Bit into it with euphoria.”
Ramiro Lagos (Colombia)
