Viva Vegan!: 200 Authentic and Fabulous Recipes for Latin Food Lovers Read Online Free PDF Page B

finding an avocado in suburban New England was as likely as tripping over a palm tree . . . luckily, those days are just a memory. Guacamole is a universally loved way to get a dose of this creamy green fruit, but any Latin meal can benefit from a few slices of perfectly ripe aguacate .
     
 
     
    Which Avocado?
     
    T he small, pebbly green-black-skinned Haas avocado rules the fruit stand in North America. And no wonder—it has a dense and buttery flesh that makes outstanding guac and jazzes up most any meal you can think of. Haas is the one truly all-year-round avocado.
     
    Perhaps you’re wondering if there are other challengers out there to Haas’s tasty green reign. Actually, many varieties of avocados are cultivated in North America and Central America, but only a few make it to grocery stores countrywide and most of them are seasonal, providing just a brief but interesting window of avocado opportunity. One place to learn more about this is the California Avocado Board ( www.avocado.org/about/varieties ), quite helpful in figuring out if you’re about to sacrifice to an arepa an avocado with a nonvegan-like name of Bacon or Lamb (Lamb Haas, that is).
     
    A sometimes overlooked type of avocado is the large, smooth-skinned variety sometimes referred to as Caribbean or Florida avocado . Florida avocados are truly tropical fruits (the Haastype avos are somewhat subtropical) and typically are very large, sometimes football shaped, or round with smooth, glossy yellow-green skin. The flesh has a flavor that’s milder and less fatty than the Haas variety, hence the somewhat creepy marketing name “SlimCados.” Enjoy them not as a diet food but, better, as an authentic taste of the islands!
     
 
    As with beans or plantains, proper use of an avocado requires a little bit of advance planning. Most avocados are sold unripe and require 1 to 3 days to get that perfect “sweet spot” but not so ripe as to become mushy, the flesh streaked with brown veins, or bitter. Unripe avocados will be rock hard and difficult to pierce with a knife . . . don’t rupture the skin of an unripe avocado or it won’t ripen properly, and that’s just sad. And remember, don’t refrigerate avocados, especially unripe avos . . . let them hang out in a bowl to ripen on your kitchen counter until it’s guacamole time.
     

DRIED HERBS AND SPICES
     
    Epazote is a Central American herb typically associated with Mexican cooking. It has a unique aroma, with a flavor that reminds me of a combination of oregano and cilantro with hints of tarragon and anise. Dried epazote is a commonly found herb in Mexican markets and is often added to beans (see page 85), but growing epazote in your garden shouldn’t be too hard, as epazote is considered a weed in parts of the country. A little goes a long way.
     
    Cumin is an Old World spice that’s essential to the New World Latin cuisines. For Latin foods, a big jar of ground cumin will go far in everything from salads to soups. Cumin imparts a well-rounded savory base particularly well suited for beans and protein-rich seitan dishes.
     
    Oregano is widely used throughout Latin America, another European export spread far and wide by its popular use in Spanish cuisine. Grow your own or use high-quality Greek or Italian dried herbs for really aromatic results (much better than run-of-the-mill supermarket stuff).
     
    Mexican oregano is actually an entirely different plant than standard oregano and is native to Central America. It’s a relative of lemon verbena but has a pungent oregano-like flavor with citrusy notes. You can tell Mexican oregano apart from the gringo stuff, as the dried leaves are pointed with jagged edges, a lighter shade of green, and have tiny, pointed flower clusters.
     
    Other dried herbs and spiced that make an appearance are dried thyme , freshly ground black pepper , ground cinnamon , cloves , and both hot and sweet ground paprika . Smoked hot paprika is one of my favorites to