Holy Guacamole!

In my country, we think of avocado as dessert. We normally turn it into an ice cream, fruit shake or we just slice it in cubes then add condensed milk or coconut milk and sugar then put it in the fridge to cool and it is served as dessert or snack. The first time I encountered real guacamole in a Mexican restaurant in Manila, I thought it was really weird. Mashed up avocado with onions and mayonnaise maybe, that was really bizarre, I didn't like it at all. Over time, I've tried different savoury treatments of avocado and I kind of appreciate now how good and versatile it really is. I even use it in soups, salads, sandwich and even as part of a main dish.

You'll be surprised how popular guacamole is over here. Even in people's homes, guacamole is a popular item served as an appetizer. You can even buy it at the local deli all made and ready to serve. I think you can also get it processed and packed, I've never had it that way though, I still think that's weird. I really don't like overly processed food.

Anyway, I had no idea what went into my head but decided I'd make my own guacamole. I've never made it before so I thought what the heck, it's just mashed up avocado, what could possibly go wrong. Of course you'll need perfectly ripe avocados, then a handful of fresh chopped cilantro leaves, chopped fresh scallions, lime juice, a little bit of rice vinegar, a pinch of salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Easy enough, so I added my own touch and added a few drops of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch or two of both cayenne and ancho chile powder. I've had it with jalapeño pepper before, it was nice, but I didn't have it so I skipped it.

I placed everything in a big enough bowl. It looked like salsa and it looked good enough enough to eat just like that but I wanted to make guacamole so I mashed it with a potato masher until it was nice and creamy. Then things started to go wrong. I was wrong, it was actually not easy to make as I thought it was. It was hard to get all the ingredients to blend in together and find that perfect balance of flavours. I kept stirring it and stirring it then tasting it over and over again, it was balanced enough, but something was missing until I've eaten probably about a quarter of it and decided to put in the fridge and do something else. That was what was missing, I discovered that it does need to rest for at least half an hour for the flavours to meld and blend nicely. Resting it in the fridge cuts the sharpness of the scallions and softens the cilantro somehow. I just wish I stopped eating it sooner.