Guacamole is an avocado-based relish or dip from the time of the Aztecs. In addition to avocados, the basic ingredients are lime juice, and salt. Variations often include tomato, chiles, onion, cilantro, garlic, and other spices. It is usually eaten with tortilla chips, although it can be spooned onto or into almost any savory Mexican dish. The name guacamole comes from Mexican Spanish via Nahuatl AhuacamOlli, from Ahuacatl (="avocado") + mOlli (="sauce"). In Spanish it is pronounced and in English it is pronounced or sometimes in British English . There are different types and varieties of avocados that can be used in guacamole.

Recipes for guacamole vary, and are somewhat dependent on availability of ingredients as well as personal taste. The most basic of these is mashed avocados with a pinch of salt and, sometimes, a dash of lime juice.

Wherever avocados are expensive, guacamole is considered a delicacy; therefore, sour cream or mayonnaise may be mixed in as a filler, but such preparations are often considered inferior and frowned upon because they dilute and mask the flavor of the avocado and also since they are not considered in the original mexican recipe, this is mostly seen as a North American (U.S.) adaptation, significantly straying from "true" or "traditional" guacamole recipes.

Mexicans sometimes refer to diluted guacamole often served in low-cost taquerías as "aguamole", a portmanteau of Spanish 'agua' ('water') and guacamole. Most guacamole recipes start with fresh peeled avocados, which are put into a bowl and mashed with a knife or fork. An acidic juice, typically lime, is then added; in addition to its flavouring, the juice keeps the guacamole from discoloring or oxidizing upon exposure to air. Other ingredients, typically finely minced or chopped, are then mixed into the avocado and lime base. A traditional method of preparing guacamole is to use a molcajete (a Mexican mortar and pestle) to grind and mix the ingredients.

Guacamole is popular in the United States as a snack food, especially around holidays and other major celebrations. Cinco de Mayo, Fourth of July, Super Bowl Sunday, and Easter each account for around 5% of annual avocado sales.

See also

• mole (sauce)
• Non-SI unit prefix

External links

• California Avocado Commission press release about consumer avocado consumption
• Guacamole site with recipes (from California)

Mexican garnish | Dips | Vegetarian cuisine

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