Directions
Guacamole is a magical name that immediately brings Mexico and its explosive cuisine to mind. But what exactly is Guacamole?
Guacamole is a straightforward sauce of mashed avocado, lime juice, and salt. This is the traditional staple recipe you’ll find all over Mexico: a delicious and oily sauce, which you can pair with simple nachos, grilled meats, salads, stuffed tacos or even salads and vegetables. And for this, Guacamole lends itself to variations and contaminations between cuisines: you can add mint and chopped jalapeño pepper, diced tomatoes, red onions, pineapple, pieces of mango, paprika, crunchy bacon. There are a thousand possibilities to customize the Guacamole.
Who Invented Guacamole?
Guacamole is as old as the world, a recipe from the Aztecs, masters in preparing “sauces” and pounded with tropical fruit and vegetables.
Guacamole is a great wildcard to be exploited on any occasion: excellent as an aperitif with nachos and Margarita.
We propose the original Mexican recipe of Guacamole, naked and raw, let’s say the basis on which to build a whole series of more creative sauces.
Ingredients and doses to make the real Mexican Guacamole
- 2 ripe avocados
- the juice of half a lime, if you haven’t, replace it with lemon
- a tablespoon (about 15 grams) of chopped mint
- 5 grams of chopped jalapeño pepper
- a pinch of salt
How to make the original Mexican Guacamole
The recipe is simple. You can’t go wrong. Just be careful to choose avocados carefully.
They must be ripe, firm, of nice bright color. If the petiole does not detach, they are still too immature. Cut the avocados in half, remove the stones and peel them.
Cut them into pieces, put the avocado in a bowl and immediately season with salt, pepper, herbs, chili if you like spicy and lime juice to prevent it from oxidizing. Mash with a pestle or fork.
You can also use a potato masher to mix everything until you get a smooth sauce. Be careful not to make the most irreversible mistake of all: using the blender. You will never have to use it. It would burn the delicate taste of avocado. It only takes 3-4 minutes at the most to make Guacamole, don’t ruin everything out of laziness!
Cooking tips and variations
If you want a more lively Guacamole, add directly onions, tomatoes, chopped cucumbers and herbs at will. If you have to serve Guacamole with spicy food, make it mildly spicy, and Guacamole will help cool you off the sting. A shower of bacon crumbs makes life tastier. Remember that next time you make Guacamole!
But we must be honest: the most successful version is the Guacamole with tomatoes, onion, lime and dried cherry tomatoes. The savory touch that the cherry tomatoes add is fabulous and cross-cuts the fatness of the Guacamole, playing down its creaminess.
Which wine to pair with Guacamole?
Savory whites like the Sicilian Catarratto or opulent like the Gewurztraminer. Champagne and Franciacorta are great for cutting all of these proteins with bubbles and acidity.
If you want the perfect combination, here is the Margarita recipe
