Wholly Guacamole?

Today’s clip was inspired by a recent lawsuit brought by Brenda Lifsey against Kraft Foods, regarding the company’s guacamole dip.

“It just didn't taste avocadoey," said Brenda Lifsey, who bought the dip to use for a party she was throwing. “I looked at the ingredients and found there was almost no avocado in it.” Apparently the Kraft product has lots of ingredients, but less than 2 percent avocado! As Jay Z might say, “it’s got 99 ingredients, and avocado isn't one!”

Now, I not sure what’s worse, putting out a product called guacamole that has only 2% avocado in it (hey, it was green!) or, suing the company because it didn’t taste “avocadoey?” Can they both be jailed?

Just is case you do buy your guacamole at the supermarket, I thought I would demo a classic version to show how easy it really is. It’s amazing what that extra 98% avocado content does for the flavor of the dish!

The Aztecs invented guacamole, which they called “ahuaca-mulli” which just means “avocado mixture”. The Aztecs truly believed the avocado was an aphrodisiac, which didn’t hurt its popularity with the Spanish explorers.

The original, ancient recipe has only avocado, onion, pepper, tomato, cilantro and salt. Lime juice is a more recent addition. I love the balance between the acid of the lime and the richness of the avocado. The tomatoes in the original served this purpose, but since decent tomatoes are almost impossible to get at the grocery store, I don’t use them and go with the lime. The acid is also important to keep the guacamole that beautiful green color. For some reason people go crazy when they make this dish at home and add WAY to many ingredients. If you’re one of these people, give this minimalist version a try and see what you think.

You’ll see a quick shot of a Molcajete in this clip which is what the Aztecs used to make this dish. While you can simply use a bowl and potato masher as I did, a real Molcajete sure would make a cool gift for the foodie in your family!


Ingredients:
2 finely chopped green onions (white parts)
1 finely chopped green jalapeno
1/2 bunch cilantro
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 large ripe avocados
1 lime
1 tbl olive oil
pinch of cayenne