Guacamole is a traditional Mexican dish, that has become really popular during the last few years worldwide.
Let’s find out more about guacamole!
- Guacamole is a Mexican dish.
- More specifically it is an avocado-based dip, spread, or salad first developed in Mexico.
- It is now commonly eaten worldwide.
- It has become part of international and American cuisine as a dip, condiment and salad ingredient.
- Informally was shortened to guac in the United States since the 1980s.
- The name comes from Classical Nahuatl āhuacamōlli .
- This literally translates to ‘avocado sauce’.
- In Mexican Spanish, it is pronounced [wakaˈmole].
- Avocados were first cultivated in South Central Mexico around 10,000 years ago.
- In the early 1900s, avocados frequently went by the name alligator pear.
- Guacamole has increased avocado sales in the U.S..
- Avocado sales were incresed especially on Super Bowl Sunday and Cinco de Mayo.
- The rising consumption of guacamole is most likely due to the U.S. government lifting a ban on avocado imports in the 1990s and the growth of the U.S. Latino population.
- Guacamole dip is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados and sea salt with a molcajete y tejolote (mortar and pestle).
- Recipes often call for lime juice, cilantro, and jalapeños. Some non-traditional recipes may call for sour cream, tomatoes, basil, or peas.
- Due to the presence of polyphenol oxidase in the cells of avocado, exposure to oxygen in the air causes an enzymatic reaction and develops melanoidin pigment, turning the sauce brown.
- This result is generally considered unappetizing, and there are several methods (some anecdotal) that are used to counter this effect, such as storing the guacamole in an air-tight container or wrapping tightly in plastic to limit the surface area exposed to the air.
- As the major ingredient of guacamole is raw avocado, the nutritional value of the dish derives from avocado vitamins, minerals and fats, providing dietary fiber, several B vitamins, vitamin K, vitamin E and potassium in significant content.
- Avocados are a source of saturated fat, monounsaturated fat and phytosterols, such as beta-sitosterol.
- They also contain carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, zeaxanthin and lutein.
- On April 6, 2018, Junta Local de Sanidad Vegetal de Tancítaro, Mexico, achieved the Guinness World Records for the largest serving of guacamole.
- They created it as part of Tancítaro’s 7th Annual Avocado Festival in Tancítaro, Michoacán, Mexico.
- The serving weighed 3,788 kg (8,351 lb) and had more than 350 people help prepare it.
- Prepared guacamoles are available in stores, often available refrigerated, frozen or in high pressure packaging which pasteurizes and extends shelf life if products are maintained at 1 to 4 °C (34 to 40 °F).
- National Guacamole Day is celebrated on the same day as Mexican Independence Day.
- It is celebrated on September 16th.
- Actually, the Aztecs (Ancient Mexicans) invented guacamole.
- When the Spaniards arrived in the New World, they discovered an Aztec sauce called ahuaca-molli.
- Molli was the Nahautl word for “something mashed or pureed,” while ahuactl referred to testicles, or the stone fruit that reminded them of testicles.
- The western state accounts for nearly 90 percent of all avocados grown in the United States, with the bulk of farms centered in a five-county region of southern California.
- The Haas avocado does not begin to ripen until it is harvested (off the tree).
- The Apollo 11 astronauts brought guacamole to space with them!
- However, they did not eat it, since, according to Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, “that pig Buzz Aldrin ate all the chips before we even left earth.”
- Avocado competes with buffalo wings and pizza as The Superbowl Food, thanks to a successful marketing campaign by avocado growers over the past 2 decades.
- Avocados are unique fruit. They have a high fat content, but this is a “good” fat – monounsaturated fat.
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