Guacamole
Guacamole from five ingredients, the kind that belongs on a shared plate of snacks: ripe avocado, onion, red pepper, cilantro (coriander) and lime.
Two things decide the result. The avocado has to be ripe — it gives under gentle thumb pressure next to the stem; a hard one will not mash and tastes of nothing. And the citrus is not only flavour: the acid slows down the browning, so it goes in as soon as you mash the avocado and not at the end.
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- 1/2 onion, very finely chopped
- 1/4 red pepper, very finely chopped
- Fresh cilantro (coriander), chopped, to taste
- Juice of 1 lime (or lemon)
- Salt, to taste
Method
- 1
Halve the avocados, remove the stones and mash the flesh with a fork to a purée. For a rustic guacamole leave it coarse: do not blend it.
- 2
Stir in the onion, the red pepper and the lime juice. The citrus goes in at this point and not at the end: it is what holds the colour.
- 3
Season with salt and stir in the chopped cilantro. If you are not serving it straight away, cover with cling film pressed onto the surface — it is the air that darkens it, so the film has to touch the guacamole rather than dome over it.