Avocado is perhaps one of the most affordable for the Russian consumer. exotic fruits... Yes, yes, from a botanical point of view, avocado is a fruit, as it grows on a tree and has a seed. However, in terms of the amount of glucose, it can be attributed more to vegetables. As it usually happens, the customer goes to the store, sees this unusual green "pear" and buys it for trial. And he doesn't know what to do next. In this article, we will analyze how to eat raw avocados correctly so that the unusual taste does not push away, but brings pleasure when eating a healthy fruit.

When you started eating avocados

In fact, for the first time about avocado, only under the name "aguacate", is mentioned in the Chronicle of Peru, where it is said that this fruit was cultivated as early as 3000 BC. The Aztecs used it in medicinal purposes, making infusions and decoctions from seeds against scabies, dandruff and others skin diseases... The Spanish conquerors of the New World, arriving in America, appreciated the properties of the fruit, mentioning it in the book by Martin Fernandez de Enkiso.

How to choose an avocado

Most often, after trying an avocado for the first time, people are outraged by its unpleasant taste and are indignant about why this fruit is needed at all.

In fact, few people know how to choose the right avocado. A ripe avocado determines its softness, a certain color and a small stalk on one side.

• Light green avocado - considered immature, hard to the touch, and light yellow or white stalk. If you bought such a fruit, then you should not be upset. Put it on the kitchen table and wait a little less than a week: it will ripen.
• Medium green and darker avocados are also slightly unprepared, they are softer, but only on top layer... One or two days before consumption will be sufficient for ripening.
• Dark green, practically Brown color- indicates that the fruit is ready to eat.
• A dark brown-green avocado is overripe, soft and the stem is already darkened. However, if you find such a fruit in your refrigerator, it's okay if mold does not appear. There are many recipes to add overripe avocado to.

Overripe avocado should not be confused with haas, a special type of black avocado.

The benefits and harms of avocado

Avocado has a huge supply useful microelements, such as, for example, vitamins A, B and E. A rich supply of oleic acid and potassium (even more than in bananas) has a beneficial effect on bones, cells, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease... Pyridoxine protects a person from stress, regulates the activity of the nervous system.

Vitamin C normalizes the function of capillaries, which affects the pancreas and thyroid glands. Despite its huge calorie content, avocado is recommended by nutritionists in the fight against overweight... Fruit fibers have a beneficial effect on activity gastrointestinal tract and the oil structure prevents constipation.

There is little harm from avocados. Calorie content is considered the biggest problem, so you should not overuse the fruit. There are 160 calories in 100 grams of avocado. Individual intolerance and allergic reactions are also possible.

It should be remembered that any product is useful in moderation.

How to cook an avocado

When cooked correctly, avocados are even tastier when raw than in any other. First, you need to understand how to properly get the pulp from the peel:

In a circle from top to bottom, you need to divide the fruit into two halves with a knife. Then carefully cut out the bone or take it out with a teaspoon. Cut the peel on one of the halves with a knife, pick up and slowly remove from each part.

The avocado stone, although it is used in cosmetic purposes and is considered useful, but at home it is considered poisonous. You shouldn't try it.

Now let's see how you can eat raw avocados. Let's imagine a couple of simple recipes.

Guacomole - traditional mexican sauce

For cooking, you need 2 avocados, 1 tomato, onion, lemon and salt. You can add chili peppers for spice.

Mash the avocado pulp in mashed potatoes, squeeze the lemon juice on top. This is necessary so that the avocado oxidizes and does not darken. Stir and add finely chopped onion and diced tomato to the mass. Salt to taste and add olive oil... A spoon will suffice. Stir the resulting mass - the appetizer is ready. It is traditionally served on crackers, it is also possible to roast bread in the oven until crisp

Avocado and cucumber gazpacho

In the summer, cold soups save you. And if traditional gazpacho I'm tired of tomatoes, you can try an unusual substitute.

Peel one avocado and place in a blender. Add a small bunch of cilantro and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to it. Put half a spoonful of salt and a little black pepper to taste in it and mix everything.

For a cucumber snack you will need: 1/2 cup chopped cucumbers, the same amount of cilantro, a tablespoon of olive oil and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste, 0.5-1 tablespoons each. Stir the appetizer in a separate bowl and add to the soup on top of the bowls. This very healthy recipe will refresh on a hot day, and in winter will give the feeling of summer.

At correct preparation the avocado will sparkle in a new way.

And together with other ingredients, you get a taste unlike anything else. You will want to buy this fruit again and again, not imagining your diet without it.

Related Videos

Each of us at least once heard about such a fruit, or a vegetable with exotic name"avocado". Despite the fact that avocado tastes more like a vegetable, it still belongs to the fruit. But since this fruit appeared on the shelves of our supermarkets not so long ago, not everyone knows how to choose a ripe fruit, how to eat an avocado correctly and which parts of it are edible and which are not.

Avocados are great for your health. It is known for its richness with vitamins, low sugar content. It follows that avocados are especially beneficial for sick people. diabetes mellitus or prone to it. In addition, avocado is rich in potassium, which has a beneficial effect on the state of the human nervous system.

Choosing a quality fruit

When buying an avocado for the first time, you always take risks, because you do not know what it should be ripe fruit... And you can buy either unripe or overripe fruit. Next time it will be much easier for you, since you will already be comparing the appearance of the avocado with its inner content.

The pulp of a ripe avocado resembles softened butter... Checking ripeness is easy with a teaspoon. If the pulp is easy to remove with a spoon, then the fruit is ripe. If it is hard or, on the contrary, too soft, then you will not feel the real taste of avocado. But this verification method can be carried out after making a purchase.

How to choose an avocado in a store? You need to lightly press on the avocado with your finger. The fruit should succumb to your pressure and flatten a little, but after a few seconds return to previous state... That is, the avocado should be soft, but elastic at the same time.

Can avocados be eaten raw?

Avocados can be eaten raw or cooked. Much more is preserved in raw avocado nutrients than after thermal exposure.

How should you eat an avocado?

Peel the avocado before eating it. There are several ways:

• peel the peel, cut the fruit along the perimeter to the bone, and turn the halves in different directions;
• without peeling the avocado, cut it around the perimeter and carry out the same manipulation, then take out the pulp with a spoon, or twist the half of the avocado inside out and cut the pulp with a knife.

There is no unequivocal answer to the question of how to eat avocados correctly. From the point of view of preserving nutrients - avocados should be eaten raw and without adding sauces and seasonings (for example, mayonnaise). In terms of improvement taste characteristics- it is better to eat avocado in combination with tomatoes, seafood, soft cheeses, that is, it is tastier to eat an avocado in a salad than just like that.

Can you eat avocado peels?

There is no unequivocal prohibition that avocado peel should not be eaten. And if we proceed from the logic that everything that is not prohibited is allowed, then you can try eat an avocado with the skin. But when cooking, it is still recommended to peel the avocado. An exception may be when you plan to stuff avocado halves. Then you should remove the pulp from the fruit and leave the peel intact. But in this case, whether or not to eat it is up to you. You can only eat the filling, but do not eat the peel.

Are avocado seeds eaten?

No, the avocado seed is not eaten or used as a condiment for cooking.

What can you make with avocado?

Avocados are most commonly used in seafood salads. Its neutral, unobtrusive taste can enhance the taste of seafood. In addition to salads, avocado is obtained delicious sauces... Quite often, avocados are used in soups and cream soups. Avocados can also be stuffed.

Avocado - exotic fruit with a juicy pulp, pleasant aroma and the most delicate taste... It appeared in stores relatively recently - about two decades ago. This product came from Mexico and Central America and was initially called midshipman oil and alligator pear. The ancient Aztecs call this product the "testicle tree".

Health benefits of avocado

Avocado is a special fruit that has a lot of properties that are beneficial to the body. He will become a great addition to your diet due to the many benefits:

• Fatty acid. This element is required for daily diet human, as it reduces the viscosity of the blood, normalizes its coagulability and prevents the formation of blood clots. If you consume avocados regularly, you will have increased elasticity in the future. blood vessels. Ripe fruit contains at least 20 grams of high quality fat, good for the body
• Proteins. 100 grams of avocado contains 2 grams of protein. This element performs construction functions, but its quantity is relatively small. To make up for this deficiency, replace the avocado with another vegetable or animal protein.
• Lecithin. It is a chemical compound that stimulates the brain's functioning, making this element useful for everyone involved in mental activity. It is also useful for everyone who is losing weight, as it normalizes metabolic processes... Lecithin cleanses the liver and blood vessel walls, removes harmful cholesterol from the body
• Glutamine. It is an antioxidant that prevents absorption harmful substances obtained by the body from food

Avocado is enough high-calorie product, however, when consumed in moderation, it does not harm the figure, but on the contrary contributes to healthy weight loss... It contains healthy fats, necessary for the body, and the presence of nutrients will help strengthen the immune system.

Avocado Soup

Most commonly used avocado in the classic way raw. The fruit can be eaten whole, cut into pieces, and even added to soup. All you need are 3 large avocados, chicken breast and a blender.

The dish is prepared as follows:

1. Prepare the chicken. Peel the carcass, cut, separate the breast and rinse thoroughly
2. Prepare chicken bouillon... Pour into a saucepan not a large number of water, boil until a brownish foam forms, drain the water
3. Pour in fresh water for the stock stock. During cooking, periodically remove the foam and stir the water
4. Peel three avocados, 2 of which are cut into quarters and scroll in a blender. If you don't have such a device, spin the avocado through a meat grinder or simply crush it with a mashed potatoes
5. Put the resulting gruel into the broth and mix everything thoroughly
6. Cut the remaining fruit into small pieces, put in the soup. Add fresh herbs

Divide the soup into bowls and serve hot.

Beet turrets

You can make delicious beet turrets using avocado and beetroot. To obtain tasty dish, buy in advance from the store 3 large ripe avocados, 3 medium-sized beets, pepper and salt, sour cream.

Preparation is carried out as follows:

1. Peel beets and avocados, rinse thoroughly
2. Cut the avocado into small pieces and crush with a pusher or fork until puree
3. Cut the beets into thin slices
4. Place the puree on top of the beets and lay another slice on top of the avocado. Repeat this two more times. You will have a kind of tower
5. Prepare the sauce. To do this, take 200 grams of any sour cream, pour a teaspoon of salt and a pinch of ground pepper into it
6. Add the mashed potatoes from the turrets to the sauce and distribute the sauce around the turrets

A delicious avocado dish is ready!

Rules for choosing a good avocado

The choice of product should be approached responsibly. Its suitability for consumption depends on how ripe and fresh the product is. When purchasing an avocado, pay attention to the following points:

• Pay attention to the surface of the fruit. Does it have dark spots, scratches, dents or cracks? If you did not find any of the listed defects, feel free to put the fruit in the basket and go to the checkout
• Choose fruits with a rich skin color. Dark color indicates that the fruit is ripe and safe to consume.
• The size of a fruit is not always an indicator of its impeccable quality. Some avocado varieties have massive pits, which inevitably gives rise to the illusion that a good-sized fruit tastes good too. In fact, it often turns out that there is very little pulp in the fruit
• Place the fruit in your hands and apply light pressure to the surface. The peel of a ripe fruit is soft and pliable, but elastic enough - the fruit will resemble a spring. The unripe fruit is hard and it is almost impossible to press on the pulp, which cannot be said about the overripe avocado. It is very easy to press such a fruit with your finger, but the pulp will return to its place for a long time. Most likely, the main part of the fruit is not just overripe, but also rotten. In this case, you should not risk your health.

An unambiguous sign of a ripe avocado is a slight pounding of a bone inside. You can hear it when shaking.

How to eat raw avocados?

Avocado is an exotic fruit that came into use quite recently and has not yet gained widespread popularity. Eating it properly is important for several reasons. This is primarily important for your health. Secondly, a deliciously cooked avocado will be equally delicious and healthy.

Unlike the more familiar pears and apples, the peel of the product is completely unsuitable for consumption - it is imperative to peel off the surface of the fruit.

The classic way to consume avocados would look like this:

1. Rinse the ripe fruit and gently peel off
2. Take a sharp knife and press down on the pulp, cutting along the circumference.
3. During the cutting process, you will feel that the knife has reached a hard seed. Don't try to cut it. Simply separate the cut pieces of the avocado from each other.
4. Separate the bone from the pulp

Place the avocado on a plate and you can eat the pulp in any way you like. The product can be eaten whole or mashed using a blender. You can prepare the fruit for consumption in a different way.

You don't have to peel the fruit:

1. Rinse the avocado under hot water
2. Cut the fruit into small wedges (like a watermelon, orange, or melon)
3. Eat the pulp without touching the skin

Avocados are processed in different ways by different peoples. Brazilians love to eat this fruit with honey; in Latin America and Spain, the product is included in the basis of sauces and pates. Vegetarian cuisine also uses avocado as a sushi filling, and people who lose weight get healthy fat from there. It is believed that raw avocado will be the healthiest, but the choice of how to use it is up to you.

Avocado is an agricultural crop that is widely known in the tropics and subtropics. By outward appearance it is a round fruit that can grow to large sizes, sometimes 20 cm in length. Inside the avocado is big bone surrounded by buttery greenish flesh. The skin of the fruit is thin, dark green in color. The avocado tastes like a mixture of butter and nuts. The uniqueness of this fruit lies in the fact that it contains a lot of fat, unlike other fruits and berries that are rich in carbohydrates.

Avocado composition

The avocado fruit pulp contains a large amount of minerals and vitamins. This fruit has the following composition:

• vitamins (K, C, B, E, A, including folic and pantothenic acids);
• magnesium;
• zinc;
• potassium;
• iron;
• manganese;
• phosphorus and others useful components.

The energy value of 100 g of avocado is 160 kcal. The fruit contains:

• 9 google carbohydrates (of which 7 are dietary fiber);
• 2 GByte;
• 15 gzhir, useful for the human body.

The complete absence of cholesterol allows the use of the avocado fruit for weight loss.

Health benefits of avocado

Eating avocados is beneficial for those who suffer from cardiovascular diseases, as well as those who have high cholesterol in their blood. The fruit does not contain much sugar, therefore it is suitable for people with diabetes. Due to its high potassium content, avocado has a positive effect on nervous system... Folic acid, which is part of the pulp of the fruit, is beneficial by strengthening the immune system and restoring the emotional background. Vitamins A and E help to improve skin condition. Oleic acid, which is also found in the avocado fruit, speeds up the metabolism in the human body.

Avocado pulp includes a large amount of B vitamins, due to which, in particular, beneficial properties are manifested:

• B1 - inhibits the formation of fats;
• B4 - improves sleep and relieves irritability;
• B2 - converts carbohydrates into usable energy;
• B5 - restores the work of the digestive system;
• B6 - allows fats to be better absorbed.

How is avocado eaten raw?

Are you going to try a raw avocado? Let's figure out in order how to do it correctly.

Choosing an avocado

First, it should be noted that it is important to choose the right fruit, since the pleasure obtained from its use depends on it. An unripe fruit does not have the most pleasant taste... At maturity, the avocado pulp becomes butter-like to the touch. Ripe fruit can be easily identified by the color of the peel: it is dark green, almost black. If you press on it, a dent remains, but at the same time, the pulp does not dangle inside and the fruit is not too soft. However, it should not be firm either: this indicates an insufficient degree of maturity. Only the pulp of the avocado is eaten, the pits and peels are thrown away.

Peeling the avocado

Before deciding how to eat raw avocados, you need to peel them. To do this, the fruit is cut around to the bone, it is not worth cutting it. Then you need to scroll both halves of the fruit in opposite directions. As a result, one of them will separate from the bone.

Eating avocado

Raw avocados can be eaten different ways... In the first case, it is enough to take a spoon and scrape the pulp out of the rind with it. It can be pre-kneaded and seasoned with black pepper, salt, olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings. Everyone can choose the right taste for themselves.

Another way to eat raw avocados is to scrape the flesh out of the rind and mash it with a fork. As in the previous case, you can add pepper and other seasonings, olive oil. Then a paste from raw avocado should be smeared on bread and enjoy excellent taste.

It is not necessary to knead the pulp, you can cut it into slices, after removing the peel, and put it on the bread. It will turn out unusual sandwiches with amazing taste.

Interesting! Avocado is perfect fruit for adherents of a raw food diet. It has not only amazing taste, but also many useful substances. it nutritious fruit, which enriches the body with valuable vitamins and fats. Thanks enough high calorie content, a raw avocado will completely replace one of the meals, it will be suitable for replacing eggs or meat.

Avocado recipes

Some people think it's better to eat raw avocados. In their opinion, this is how you can fully experience the taste and aroma of the fruit. In addition, it is more useful to eat this fruit raw than after heat treatment, since all vitamins and other useful components are preserved in it. However, some people disagree. It is not in vain that there is great amount recipes with avocado. This fruit is found in salads, soups, sauces and other dishes.

Seafood and avocado salad

To prepare a seafood salad, you will need the following ingredients:

• canned squid - half a can;
• avocado - 1 pc.;
• shrimp - 250 g;
• cucumber - 1 pc.;
• olives;
• mayonnaise.

To prepare the dish, you will need to do the following:

1. Peel the avocado, remove the pit, chop into cubes.
2. Cut cucumbers and squids into cubes.
3. Boil the shrimps, and then peel and chop.
4. Cut the olives into slices.
5. Mix all the ingredients of the salad, season with mayonnaise.

You will get a dish with great taste... Eating such a salad is useful because it contains vitamins. It is worth noting that the avocado does not work in this case. heat treatment and is used raw, so it retains all the valuable components.

Chicken and avocado salad

For cooking chicken salad you will need the following products:

• chicken breast in boiled- 300 g;
• avocado - 1 pc.;
• lettuce salad - 1 pc.;
• lemon juice, salt, olive oil.

The salad preparation process is as follows:

1. The fruit must be peeled, cut, pitted and peeled, the pulp must be chopped into small cubes. Then they need to be sprinkled with lemon juice so as not to darken.
2. Lettuce should be rinsed, dried and refrigerated for a few minutes. This will make the leaves crispy.
3. Boiled chicken fillet need to be crushed into cubes.
4. Torn lettuce leaves are laid out on a plate, avocado slices are placed on top. The dish needs to be salted and seasoned vegetable oil... Chicken fillet is laid out on top.

If done correctly, the salad will taste good. It is recommended to stir the ingredients of the dish before serving.

Avocado sauce

In addition to salads, avocado makes a sauce with a wonderful, memorable taste. To prepare it, you will need the following:

• avocado - 2 pcs.;
• fresh tomato - 1 pc.;
• chili pepper - 1 pc.;
• onions - half a head;
• lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l .;
• chopped cilantro, salt.

To prepare the sauce, you need to follow these steps:

1. Peel the avocado fruit, mash the pulp in mashed potatoes. Drizzle with lemon juice.
2. Chop the chili pepper without seeds.
3. Peel and chop the onion in a blender.
4. Mix all products into a separate dish, salt, add cilantro. Chop the tomato with the skin and add to the sauce. Mix.

Thus, from the avocado fruit are obtained wonderful dishes... Only a few recipes are described above. In fact, there are many more of them. This fruit can be used to prepare food for adults and children. Avocados are suitable for salads, soups, sauces and other dishes, being successfully combined with almost all products.

Video: how to eat an avocado right?

Many people ask the question: how to eat an avocado correctly? The answer to it is contained in the following video.

Before you try the avocado fruit, you need to know how to peel it properly. How to do this is clearly shown in the video.

Having a snack on a sandwich consisting of a slice of black bread and mashed raw avocado pulp spread on it is not only tasty, but also healthy.

Avocados are native to the tropics of Central America. Botanists attribute this evergreen tree to a distant relative of laurel. Interestingly, the fleshy leaves of some of the many hundreds of avocado species exude anise flavor.

Probably due to the similarity of the structure of the skin of the fruit with the skin of caimans, the local Indians call the fruit a phrase that can be translated as "Alligator pears" or "Crocodile pear".

These fruits have local residents on the table every day. They already know how to eat raw avocados - they just spread the oily pulp on the bread.

And the Mexicans cook delicious, but incredible spicy dish from thick paste pulp of avocado, tomato and chili.

We cut, we clean

The fruit is cut with a knife lengthwise around the bone. It can be easily split into halves.

The flesh of an avocado, like the skin, is multi-colored: from emerald green, like kiwi, to pale yellow, like a pear. It hides a smooth, round "seed" the size of a small egg. You just need to pick the bone a little and it will fall out.

The peel is just as easy to peel. It can be removed even without a knife, like a ripe orange.

The flesh can now be cut into wedges or cubes for the salad. For example, with shrimp, boiled egg and fresh cucumbers under mayonnaise.

But keep in mind that in the air, the pieces quickly oxidize and darken, although this does not affect the taste in any way. To prevent browning, sprinkle them with lemon juice or citric acid solution.

If you want to eat mashed avocado, do not peel the skin from the halves, remove the contents with a spoon.

The tender pulp is similar in consistency to soft melted cheese. She will surprise you with the unexpected aroma of oven-dried walnuts.

These fruits are eaten exclusively raw. It is impossible to cook hot dishes from them: heat destroys elements delicate structure resulting in strong bitterness

Exotic Party

It's interesting to have a party with friends somehow exotic dishes from avocado. This fruit, brought to Europe by sailors during the time of Columbus, culinary experts have learned to use it in a very diverse way. So the choice unusual recipes big enough. For example, you can make mashed soups, pastas, salads, sandwiches.

But in order to treat friends to glory, you should choose the ripe fruits.

Difficulties of choice

The avocado fruit is most often in the shape of a well-fed pear, but some of the hundreds of varieties of these tropical trees round or oval fruits are formed.

Their size does not say anything about ripeness. Even large "crocodile pears" can be unripe, although they reach a weight of one and a half kilos. But the smaller fruits, the size of a fist, can be quite ready to eat raw.

The color of the maturity of these fruits also cannot be determined: they are yellow-green, reddish, brown and even purple.

The maturity test is much easier. You just need to touch the fruit and press your finger to the skin. The hard ones are not yet ripe. If there is a dent on the skin, feel free to put the fruit in the basket.

But there are nuances

1. Ripe avocado need to eat today or tomorrow. It won't last long.

2. Soft and seemingly unspoiled fruit inside may be overripe. Its loose pulp is unsuitable for food. A sign of an overripe fruit is a blackened base (the place where the cutting was).

But the hard fruit in the warmth of the apartment will ripen in a few days. Just don't put it in the refrigerator.