The Avocado, or Avocado Pear, is a member of the Lauricae family of plants, and is native to Mexico and Central America, where it has been grown for more than 7000 years. These days, Avocado is also cultivated in parts of Africa, Israel, The Canaries, and Australia. The Aztecs called the fruit of the tree ahuacatl, or "testicle," because of its shape, and for some time it was considered to have aphrodisiac powers. There are over 500 types of avocado, which all come from three 'races', the Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian, each with their own characteristics. Mexican trees bear small, dark fruits with a smooth skin, and have leaves with an aniseed ...  Read the complete review

When We Met The avocado, or avocado pear, is native to the tropical regions of Americas and is one of my favourite foods. Although it grows on an evergreen tree that has been cultivated for thousands of years, the fruit has only became widely popular since the 19th century, when new hybrids were introduced to North America. I first consumed it when I was living in Brazil where it is known as the abacate - not to be confused with the similar sounding abacaxí, which means pineapple. Trying to pronounce abacate like the locals took me a while and for sometime and on many occasions I had to be content with drinking pineapple juice instead of avocado with milk. The word ...  Read the complete review

Avocados are a super food, containing almost all you need to keep you going if caught in the jungle where they originate. They are from the pear family, and are native to Mexico, Central and South America. In the UK and Ireland they cost about 00.50-1.00 pounds depending on the time of year. ABOUT AVOCADOS Avocados are a pear shaped fruit, with bumpy green skin. When cut open the color is light green to golden yellow in the center. The flesh will brown on contact with oxygen, in order to prevent that, squeezing lime or lemon on the flesh will do the trick . Avocados are 75% fat, but not the bad kind, it is monounsaturated fat. They also ...  Read the complete review

These are brilliant! They are generally green and have rough skin, they are about the size of a pear but with a more rubbery outer texture. The best way to see if they are ripe is to give them a squeeze, if they are really hard they are not ready for consumption yet and can even have a texture some what resembling raw turnip which isn't good. There is a large stone in the center of this fruit/vegetable so if you are making them for more than four people it is best to buy two of them. They are quite oily in texture but contain all the "good" oils (mono unsaturated fats to be exact) and seem to be always recommended in fashion and chat magazines for its high ...  Read the complete review

I have always thought of Avocado's as being a rather posh food but they are becoming increasingly popular. They currently cost 72p each from Tesco or, until the 17/08/08 they are 2 for £1 a bargain! You should stock up whilst you can. Avocado's look like pears, this is because they are a member of the pear family. They have a bumpy texture on the outside which is a dark green colour. Inside there is a large stone and the flesh is a light green colour with a smooth texture, similar to that of a mango. Like all fruit you need to make sure it's fresh before you buy it, apart from any obvious damage to the outside, it should be firm, but not hard. An ...  Read the complete review