Wayfarer's League

It’s been a while on the foodie front here at Wayfarer’s. Back when we thought there was a chance we would be entertaining before the New Year, I shared my favourite Picco De Gallo recipe, and what pairs better with salsa than guacamole!?

I have to confess, I never used to like guacamole. It was something that you would find on the table at a church potluck, (aka bring-and-share) all soupy and brown next to an open bag of tortilla chips. Never very appetising to look at. Also, having grown up in Michigan in the 1980’s/90’s, avocados weren’t readily available to us; well maybe in the “exotic” section of the supermarket.

I think the first time I ever decided to try guac that was tolerable, I suppose I was a 19 year old student in Montana (OMG… as I wrote that I realised it was 20 years ago! WTF). One of my fellow students, upon discovering that I didn’t like it, insisted I just had never had “good” guac. She was of course from California where avocados grow out the eyes of the seagulls and through the sidewalks of every town, so she had access to a badass supply of the good stuff. I tried what she came up with and though it was tasty, but it still seemed

a bit soupy.

It wasn’t until years later, after moving to the UK where (at the time) Mexican food and ingredients didn’t exist, that I really started to experiment with cooking my own. Mexican was so scarce that I would even have my Mom send me seasoning so that I could make a decent Fajita (Oh, my dear friends, Fajitas are in your future). So one day, I was planning a Mexican feast for a boardgame night and I had to have all the trimmings (I don’t do half measures, folks.) That night I decided to make my own guac and was hell bent on ensuring it wasn’t going to be a gross, soupy, brown mess!

This first thing I did was eliminate the tomatoes. It may be a weird thing to be passionate about, but I firmly believe you should not put tomatoes in guac. Have it along side salsa, but the avocado will thank you for excluding tomatoes. When I make this recipe in front of others, inevitably they will ask, “Are you putting in tomatoes?” My answer is always the same:

Then I gathered the following ingredients :

• 2-3 Medium Ripe Avocados
• ½ Small Red Onion
• 2-3 Fresh Jalapeños
• Small Handful of Fresh Coriander
• 1-2 Fresh Limes
• Flaked Sea Salt

Again, taking from my experience of spending a small amount of time in Mexico I went for it!

This guac could not be easier:

1) Dice the red onion, jalapeño and avocado. Then mash the three together.

2) Very finely chop the coriander and stir it into the mashed mixture with a generous pinch of flake sea salt (I love Maldon).

3) Give it a taste and add the lime, squeezing in one half at a time, tasting in between to make sure you don’t over do it.

Give a final stir and your all set to use as a dip, top tacos or fill burritos. I find the acidity of the lime really helps slow dow the oxidation and your guac will stay greener longer!

We UK based Wayfarer’s will all have a chance to begin hanging out in real life soon, why not kick off this time with a proper fiesta!

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