Guacamole! Ole!

I didn't really have a more imaginative title for this post.  As you will see, it is a short wee thing about that amazing South American dip and a pig.  And I shall start with the pig...

I had been wanting a salt pig for a while when it dawned on me that my pig should look like a pig too!  I found one that I liked and mum duly obliged at Christmas.  My piggy is cute as a button, but it turns out that he is a salsa pig, not a salt pig.  And you can't keep salt in a salsa pig!  I have tried to find a link for you, but I can only find a double salsa pig - well, if you're going to make one salsa, why not two?

The first opportunity that I have had to use my pig appeared this week, when I joined Dave and his colleagues for a work rounders and BBQ evening - which was really good fun.  I had a couple of ripe avocados and thought guacamole would be just the thing to take along.

My recipe for guacamole is a bit transient - it depends on what I have to hand, what we're having it with and what I fancy.  But before I give you my bare bones of the recipe, I shall tell you a little bit about its origins.

Mole is the Aztec word for sauce.  So, it was an almond sauce (mole) that went with Thomasina Miers' chicken and chorizo.  The Spanish for avocado is aguacate, which also derives from the Aztec language, so there you go - guaca (avocado) mole (sauce).

I have also recently learned that avocado is also a good alternative to butter to spread on bread.  It was the Spanish and other Europeans that brought cows to America, so before this there was no butter.  "Poor-man's Butter" (Mantequilla de Pobre) is a spread made of avocado, tomato, oil and lemon juice - although, if they knew the price of avocados here, they would probably need to rethink the name!!

And so to the guacamole...

Ingredients
2 ripe avocados
3 small tomatoes
1 fat clove of garlic
1 lime
Fresh coriander
Salt
1/4 tsp cumin
Olive oil

Crush the garlic in a pestle and mortar with a little salt.  This is extremely satisfying.  The salt draws out all the water and it makes a great paste. (Alternatively, just crush the garlic into a bowl in sprinkle in some salt).

Dice the avocado roughly and mix with the garlic paste.  Crush the avocado with the back of a fork so that it breaks up.  Personally, I prefer my salsa chunky, so don't squash the avocado too much.

Put your tomatoes in a bowl or cup and cover with boiling water.  30 seconds later, (carefully!) remove the tomatoes and the skin should peel away easily.  Discard the skin and chop the tomato.  Add this to the avocado mix.  Again, do some mushing, but don't be too keen.

Squeeze in the juice of half the lime, add a good handful of chopped coriander and sprinkle in the cumin.  Then taste.  This is important.  Decide if you like how it tastes, or if you want more lime, coriander, cumin or salt.

Stir through a glug of olive oil to loosen it up and your guacamole is ready.

Sometimes I also add onion for a bit of bite.  And I've read you could also add yogurt.  You might also like to add a pinch of paprika or some chilli to spice it up.  Get creative!