The avocado is on everyone's lips, in the truest sense of the word. The fruit, which has been declared a real superfood, is repeatedly criticized.
Interesting facts about the avocado
The Aztecs already cultivated the fruit in South America. They called her at times ahuacatl, whereas in the English world they later got the name because of their warty skin
alligator pear, i.e. "Alligator Pear". In Germany, the avocado was initially also called "butter fruit".To speak of THE avocado in general terms would not be entirely correct. There are more than 400 varieties, the largest of which can weigh more than 2 kilos. Due to the high demand and the resulting mass production, we mainly find two varieties on the supermarket shelves in this country: Fuerteventura and hate. Avocados do not ripen on the tree, they only begin to do so after they are harvested. To test whether an avocado is ripe, you should hold it in your hand. If it yields to slight pressure, it can be eaten. In general, individual black spots are a sign that the fruit is overripe. However, the color of the skin is not necessarily a sign of its maturity, because the variety hate gets a black shell with increasing maturity, Fuerteventura- Fruits, on the other hand, remain green.
Known as a rare luxury product a few years ago, the avocado is now available throughout Germany all year round. In winter, for example, they come from Brazil, Chile and Spain, while in summer they come from South Africa and Peru. For many, it has therefore become as natural as a potato. But this can be problematic for our environment, because the strong demand and rising prices make it extremely attractive for local farmers to grow avocados. As a result, the avocado boom in South America is leading to illegal deforestation to make room for fields. The increasing use of pesticides and chemical pesticides also pollutes the already valuable and scarce drinking water in these countries. In addition, the avocado itself consumes a lot of water anyway. While 1 kilogram of tomatoes requires around 180 liters of water on a global average, one kilogram of avocados (approx. 2 ½ avocados) up to 1,000 liters. The long transport routes also worsen their ecological balance. In addition, impacts of this fruit make a lot, which is why it is only transported well padded and that in turn means more packaging material.
The avocado was already popular before the world invented the word "superfood". South Americans appreciate avocados in a variety of ways, while in Japan they are rolled in sushi, for example. In Indonesia is alpaca popular, a shake made from avocados, brown raw sugar and cocoa, and in Taiwan and the Philippines a delicious dessert is made from avocados, milk and sugar. Some people like to spoon them up with salt and a squeeze of lemon or put them on their bread. So if you are looking for inspiration to prepare your avocado, you will be overwhelmed with culinary and global variety. This is also perfectly fine, as long as one is aware of the path the avocado has to travel to get to us. Enjoying them in moderation and ideally preferring the organic quality can be a first step in the right direction. It is also best not to buy avocados as “ready to eat” fruit, but rather when they are still very hard. At home you can then simply let them ripen in newspaper. You can even speed up this process very easily if you add an apple, which secretes a so-called "ripe gas". Thus, the avocado remains something special and is not consumed in large numbers. Perceiving the superfruit as a luxury or delicacy again helps our environment immensely.
