Ahhhhh aguacate..... There is nothing as glorious as the harvest of aguacate (avocado) in my community. Around this time of year, from May to June, the town is flooded in aguacates. I'm not talking about the small hass avocados that I was accustomed to eating in the U.S. I'm talking about criollo aguacates the size of pillows! For the past 2-3 weeks, I have eaten a whole avocado for lunch and dinner, respectively. I really appreciate the abundance of fruits and vegetables here in Costa Rica. There are avocado trees that have been planted for over 40 years and that are so tall, sometimes the only way to harvest the fruit is to wait until it falls to the ground and hope that it doesn't splatter. When the fruits are high up in the tree, we use a long piece of bambu with a type of bag attached to the end to grab the aguacate. Another method is to simply shake the branches with the long bambu and have another person with you to try and catch the aguacate when it falls!
There are different types of aguacates, varying in size, shape, color, and taste. I have eaten some avocados that tasted like butter and others that have been sweeter. Yesterday, I ate one that is almost white on the inside. I have eaten some aguacates that were shaped like a butternut squash and almost equal in size! Writing this blog makes me hungry. The guacamole I have made has been tremendously delicious, using almost all fresh ingredients. I'm definitely getting spoiled to eating lots of aguacate and will miss it when the cosecha (harvest) is over!
Carlos
