Monday, April 07, 2008



Last night's Ode To Emily's Dinner pulled most of its dishes from the menu of our favourite Hamilton restaurant. However, with the need to use up one of the interesting gems picked up at our local market, the feast also included a guacamole.

This wasn't any old guacamole - it was a General Bureau Avocado Guacamole. I have yet to discover the etymological significance embedded in the handle of this fruit/veg, but it provided us with an interesting guac-making process. This guy wasn't at all like the other avocados I have played with in the past. Yes, it was green. Yes, it had a massive seed hidden inside, and yes, it featured as the main ingredient in the guac, which K was in charge of. Despite these similarities, this was no Haas. Its skin, which was much lighter in colour, peeled off with ease, and seemed to have an almost felt-like underneath. The flesh was plump and smooth as silk, making a much 'thinner' guacamole. The neck of the avocado was long and lean and bulged into a large and hefty bottom.

I still remember my first taste of guacamole. I was already in graduate school, believe it or not, by the time I tried my first pita covered in guacamole. A PhD gal pal of mine, Melissa, showed me how to whip up a tried and true dip that lasted me through many a Shakespearean sonnet, and more than one crummy marking session of undergraduate papers. Isn't it great the memories that live in our food.

The Rosewater Cookies went over immensely well at my team meeting today. I love you Veganomicon.

General Bureau's Guacamole
Ingredients:
-1 general bureau avocado
-1/4 of a really hot pepper
-juice of one lemon
-1 clove of crushed garlic

How To: Peel avocado, cut out any of the brown bits, add remaining ingredients and whirl in a food processor or use a hand blender.

Let's give it up for K's guac and his beautiful photo of his ingredients. Thanks for your artful eye K. VeganCowGirl loves every one of your contributions.

10 comments:

Bianca said...

Wow! I haven't ever seen one of those. It looks like a cross between an avocado and a squash. Neato!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

beautiful photo!

Anonymous said...

I've never seen this avocado before, very interesting!!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

i remember the first time I ever had avocado, which was actually in guacamole form. I was well out of college (so probably 23/24) and visiting my friend Katie's art show. she made her famous guacamole and i was instantly in love! i don't remember the art (unfortunately), but i do remember that guac.
love the picture! i am a haas girl myself, but i'm pretty sure i would love any avocado.

aTxVegn said...

It looks more like a squash than an avocado - how interesting!

J said...

I want to try different varieties of avocados! How neat, this looks so good! I'm in love. And those hot peppers.....

VeganCowGirl said...

I love how excited people get about avocado. It really is a wonderful little bit of food - so versitile: cookies, cakes, savory, dips, fat replacer...amazing. And so different.

Jennifer: Good luck on your hunt for other varieties - let me know how it goes.

Wheeler's Frozen Dessert said...

That avocado looks awesome! I need to get my hands on one of those - I love guacamole!

Rural Vegan said...

A giant avocado, I think I am in love!

Anonymous said...

What a cool avocado! I've never seen different varieties of avocado around here, I wish I could find more exotic produce somewhere!