Holy Guacamole!

17 January 2019

Hola from Mexico, where Knidos Cookery Club is on a fact-finding mission to compare Turkish and Mexican cuisine.

So far we can report many similarities – they both love hot chilli peppers in their food, there’s plenty of beans used and wrapping food in flat bread is popular. They both have lots of dips, make great white cheese and good use is made of courgette flowers.

We’ll do a more in-depth report on Turk-Mex similarities at a later date, but at the moment we’ll make something quick and easy: the avocado-based dip Guacamole, a favourite in Mexico since the days of the Aztecs.

With Turkey beginning to produce avocados in significant numbers, we’d love to see this dip added to the great pantheon of mezes in our local restaurants in the Knidos area.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• Two ripe avocados
• One small plum tomato
• One small red onion
• One jalapeño pepper (omit if you don’t like spicy food)
• One lime

Method

Cut the avocados in half and remove the stone. Scoop out the bright green flesh and put in a bowl. Peel and finely dice the tomato and onion and add to the avocado. Remove the seeds from the jalapeño pepper and chop it finely. Mash with a fork, adding the juice of the lime as you go, until you have a fine paste. Serve with tortilla chips or on toast.