Holy Guacamole



Michael Duca
Artwork by Cici Davidson

January brings several things, without fail—commercials from gyms and diet plans, New Year’s resolutions and Super Bowl parties.
    You hear it every year—Super Bowl weekend produces a tremendous spike in avocado consumption, because no Super Bowl party worth its salt would dare consider going without guacamole.
    Sure, you can go buy a plastic tub with some funky green stuff that’s labeled “guacamole,” or even purchase some frozen. But this is something that is best done yourself, at home—avocados don’t tend to travel well after they are removed from their skins; they oxidize and darken quickly, which is why you never see guacamole for sale in a deli.
    So what’s the big deal?  Just mash some avocados, add some hot sauce and you’re done, right?
    That’s one way … Now, if you’re going to do this for a group of special friends, and you want it done just right, you’ll get several Haas avocados a few days in advance of the big day. Hass avocados have the thick, knobby skin that darkens as the avocado ripens. You want the skin to be very dark, but not yet black. If your avocados ripen a couple of days early, refrigerating them can slow down the process.
    The traditional Mexican way to prepare guacamole is to use a molcajete, a lava-rock mortar and pestle available in any Mexican grocery. It’s really the best way, but you don’t use it on the avocado.
Lightly dice the avocado and set it aside. Put 1⁄2 tablespoon of fresh cilantro, a large pinch of salt, 3 tablespoons of chopped onion and 1 teaspoon or more of chopped jalapeno pepper in the molcajete and use the pestle to grind them to a paste and release the juices. Add the diced avocado and 2 or 3 tablespoons of ripe, peeled and seeded tomatoes, and mix gently with a wooden spoon. Don’t mash the avocado. Add fresh lime juice to taste.
    It’s traditional to serve this with tortilla chips as a snack, but it’s also great on tacos, in burritos, over steak, atop grilled fish or as the perfect addition to a turkey sandwich.