'Ave an Avo!

When we stepped off the mail ship 'Edinburgh Castle' in Cape Town in 1959, we were a young, green, immigrant family! Well, mum was green as she suffered the whole trip with sea sickness, and would literally shudder at the mention of food! Dad had retired from the Metropolitan Police and had been recruited by the NRP (Northern Rhodesia Police) for a three year tour. So, we arrived in Cape Town after a two week voyage and then faced a three day steam train journey to Lusaka. (As we pulled into the station late on the Sunday evening, my sister slammed her thumb in the toilet door and we came face to face with a knife fight and two bleeding men! I think that mum was ready to kill dad by then!)

But, I digress........you must be used to those words by now!!

When we were shown to our compartment on the train, we saw a lovely basket of fruit, sent, we all thought, to welcome us to Africa by the NRP. (Actually, we discovered later, much later, it was sent to the wrong compartment and wasn't ours at all!) Anyway, it contained fruit that we had never seen before, mangos and..................an avocado pear. Now, bearing in mind that the only pears we had ever seen and eaten before were the usual 'apples and pears' type pears, green skinned and fairly hard to bite into, dad assured us that the hard, thick skinned 'pear' was ripe and ready to eat! What did we know? We tried to eat it, dad cut it up and removed the stone and we manfully bit into the hard, bitter skin and flesh. It went out of the window very quickly and I resolved never to eat another one......ever!! Many years passed before mum gathered the courage to try again!

Ripe and ready to eat! (Thanks to Google)

Then I met Katy at school and we became best friends, (still are!), sharing sandwiches at break and staying over at each other's homes at weekends. She used to bring avocado sandwiches to eat at break and obviously enjoyed them, and I wondered why, for goodness sake? But, finally I discovered the delight of a ripe avo, mashed with salt and pepper and a dash of Worcester Sauce.

And I was hooked!

Now, we can (and often do,) eat them three times a day! Our local supermarkets are having specials at the moment, and are offering either 3 for R10 or 6 for R20 (obviously!) We buy them green and unripe and then pop them into a brown paper bag for a week until they are ready to eat. Even out of season, I happily pay up to R12 per avo to prevent withdrawal symptoms! They can be frozen once they are ripe if they are mashed with lemon juice, but ours never get the chance!!

Interestingly enough, when I was in Spain we found South African avos in the supermarkets, and when I was in Dubai, I found Spanish ones!! Talk about musical pears!!

Avocado Ritz! It's popularity is returning, happily!

And they are unbelievably versatile. From toast topping to pizzas, and salads to soup, they will add their subtle flavour to anything! Simply cut in half and scoop out with a spoon, oh boy! And who could forget those days of an Avocado Ritz starter, with that gorgeous seafood mayonnaise and dainty shrimps stuffed into the hollow where the stone once nestled? And although this is not a foodie blog, I have to share my all time favourite soup recipe with you all.

Creamy avocado soup.

Ready to copy this down? Good.

Chuck the following into a blender goblet, whizz until smooth, serve chilled and enjoy:
1 large ripe avo (peeled and sliced), or 2 small ones.
300 ml cold water
150 ml cream
1 chicken stock cube
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 ice cubes (yes, honestly)
Dash of Worcester Sauce
Salt and pepper to taste.
A dash of paprika for serving.

This is a firm favourite for lunch or supper and we never tire of it.

See?

Try it and let me know!

Hmmmm, I feel a soup coming on!