The day I fell for guacamole

A few years ago, when I was still living in Montréal, my chocolate-soulmate Taleen had a bunch of girlfriends over at her place for a summer house par-teeeeeeeeeeeeh!  (By the way, if Taleen ever invites you to her home, don't even think twice: say yes and be there.  She is the perfect host and a terrific cook.) 

I had just returned from a 2 week vacation in Italy to visit my husband's family, and we had spent part of that trip in the south ... Italy! Beach! Go back home and party! Life can't get much better, right?   

So when I was getting ready for Taleen's party, I was all like, "Oh, I'm going to wear my fashion-forward Italian sandals, and a sleeveless top with shorts to show of my Mediterranean tan."  Because a Mediterranean tan is a cut above any other tan, right?  Let's take a moment to roll our eyes together.  So anyway, yes, I wore that to an informal gal get-together at home.  Real smart: the perfect time to wear something comfortable, but no, I just had to be vain.

Most people think Montréal is cold, and they're right - it is frigid in the winter.  But we have beautiful, hot summers there too.  As luck would have it, it was way too hot that day for an outdoor shindig, so Taleen's summer party was actually held indoors.  Two words:  air conditioning.  One more word: FREAKIN'COLD!

So there I was, in Taleen's walk-in freezer living room, chatting and laughing, pretending that I was snug as a bug, even if I couldn't feel my toes and all I could really think about was that I was going to get hypothermia in the middle of summer.  I was being punished for my vanity. 

Despite being busy entertaining a bunch of friends and preparing all kinds of food, Taleen must have sensed my discomfort, because she actually ran upstairs, got one of her sweaters, and gave it to me without making me feel dumb.  Or vain.  Perfect host?  Check!  Lesson learned?  Check!

I warmed back up to normal body temp just in time for the food.  It was an appetizer party: our host had prepared a crazy number of appetizers and brought them out a little at a time so that we could properly savour it all and get lots of chatting done in between.

Everything she made was delicious, but the thing I remember most vividly was the guacamole.  I had tried lots of guacamole before, but never met one that I liked.   I sampled Taleen's just to be polite, because when someone welcomes you into her home and offers you guacamole that she made, you don't say no.  And boy, am I ever glad I did! This is why you should always taste something before you decline.  You just never know.

I’m sure that at some point, everyone forms an idea of what their perfect guacamole is (and for some, it may be "no guacamole at all" ... until they try this!  Ha!).  At Taleen's crazy-cold-summer-party, I found mine: chunky, with just enough smoothness to hold the avocado chunks together.  Fresh and vibrantly green, it has flavours that jump out at you, but it’s not very hot/spicy, and it doesn’t have cilantro*.  It is so delicious that you would eat the entire bowl.  

My husband agrees.  This is the only guacamole he enjoys.  I make guacamole quite often now, and while I do know that it makes for ideal party fare, my favourite occasion to make it is for when I’m alone.  This way I don’t have to share.

*Apparently, it's not my fault that I'm not very good friends with cilantro.  According to that article, Julia Child didn't like it, either.  It sounds like she had very strong feelings against it, actually.  So there.  

Guacamole

Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Toss together in a medium bowl:
  1 ½ Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
  4 dashes hot pepper sauce
  2-4 Tbsp finely diced onion

    (I have used yellow onion, red onion, green onion 
    - they all work)

  1 garlic clove, minced
  ½ tsp kosher salt

  a few grinds black pepper

Dice and add to bowl:
  2 ripe Haas avocados

With a spoon, toss the avocados with the onion/lemon juice mixture.  The more you work it, the smoother and creamier your guacamole will be. 

Seed, dice finely and add to mix, just to combine:
  1 small tomato

Yields 1½ cups.   

In Bon Appétit's March 2010 issue, Eva Longoria Parker was interviewed and she said that "lemon is the secret ingredient in good guacamole".  I wholeheartedly agree!  I find that guacamole made with lemon (not lime) really POPS.