lunes, 6 de abril de 2009

Matchmaking

My guest of honor for this post is an incredibly versatile FRUIT, and is in fact growing en la finca on at least 1 enormous tree (maybe more, i'll have to search).....
a fruit frequently featured in a savory DIP,
a fruit revered by raw foodists as well as cooked foodists.........
my personal FAVORITE FOOD, hands down, on the planet:

¡EL AGUACATE!


The avocados on our tree actually have not ripened yet, see below,


but with the range of mini climates in the area, perfectly soft yet firm fruit of the gods will be available for months starting now. Hailing from the very not-tropical state of Virginia, i maintain a fascination with and something like desperation for good, ripe avocados. In el mercado, i cannot say no to an avocado offer--i physically cannot restrain myself. they are so ripe and so cheap and so available! Of course the problem arises when i arrive home with bagfuls of the heavy green fruit, and only these two little gringo mouths to feed.

For sure, guacamole goes a looooooooong way

i serve it up on Nicaragua's comida tipica, gallo pinto, as well as the usual with chips, in a 7 layer dip, on a sandwich, with eggs, etc etc. By the way Nicas don't do guacamole--despite the sensational flavor combo of avocado with onion, garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, and tomato--they slice it and leave it blandly on the side of the plate, an afterthought not worthy of its own serving bowl. sacrilege i say!

However, i have been to that place of too much guac, where instead of inviting pleasure and delight, the sight of another bowl of smooshed avocado simply repels. With this knowledge, i am sashaying my way into avocado season, determined to keep my taste buds interested.

Taking a cue from raw foodists, i decided to incorporate aguacate into dessert for a change. Gross, right? i don't much prefer any fruit in my dessert if i can help it. as tasty as cherry pie and peach cobbler might be, dessert is CHOCOLATE and CARAMEL and CANDY. that's just me. little did i know what drama was to unfold....

the meeting of 2 tropical fruits

At first, they didn't seem to relate. The prissy packaged cocoa powder, her fluorescent price tag like bling, almost mocking the bohemian aguacates, naked and wild and free of plastic.

but when the package was opened and the powder emptied out, maybe she remembered those days growing as a cacao fruit, dangling from a tree in the hot tropical sun; before being harvested, fermented, dried, then pulverized, the cacao was living that same bohemian lifestyle!

Into the blender they went, 2 tropical fruits, footloose and fancy free!

+ 2 more, caña + vainilla...

=
a match made in heaven!

insanely delicious creamy chocolate mousse

4 comentarios:

alissa dijo...

that looks amazing! YUUMMMMmmmm

La Gringa dijo...

Yes, it looks amazing, but how did it taste???? Could you taste the avocado? Did the flavors meld?

I think El Jefe would have a heart attack if I suggested this, but if you tell me it was really good, maybe I'll sneak up on him. Jejeje!

I remember seeing two Martha Stewart avocado recipes, one was a soup, the other a dessert. I don't know if the recipes are still on her site....since the zompopos are creating havoc with our avocado trees, I haven't had the need to look.

Bridget dijo...

you are hill-a-re-ous! That was an awesome post - chocolate avocado pudding. Who knew? More!! More!!

Liz dijo...

Yeah, i didn't get into the flavor but really truly i found it FANTASTIC! Could i taste the avocado? well, yes,but not in the way that an avocado usually tastes...i mean it was sweet! Definitely remember the SUGAR.
FYI, my boyfriend did not like it--claims it tasted "funny" (but not until AFTER i told him what was in it).
go on--try it!