Ripe avocado. How to choose a ripe avocado? Choice of skin color

Sometimes it's hard to find ripe ones Exotic fruits on the shelves of our stores, and the fault is not at all the irresponsibility of the sellers or the administration. The difficulty lies in the export of foreign products. Especially things like avocados.

This fruit has a delicate, creamy texture that is difficult to preserve during transportation. That is why vegetables and fruits from warm countries are brought green, not ripe. During the journey, they ripen, and the final ripening takes place already on the shelves of the supermarket. And of course, this fact greatly affects the taste of the product: it is one thing when fruits hang on branches under the hot sun, saturated with rays and fresh air., and it is a completely different matter when unripe fruits are carefully packed and processed, “floating” or “flying” around the world to eventually end up on our table.

How to know if an avocado is ripe

In any case, you always want to feast on exotic vitamins, and in order to get maximum pleasure at the same time, you need to learn how to choose the right fruits. How to choose an avocado and not make a mistake? In the case of avocados, always pay attention to its color. The hard peel has a light or dark green or brown (brown) color, sometimes with small, light patches - without any dark or yellow spots or a sharp change in color. Initially, any avocado is green. As it matures green variety becomes darker, and the brown variety changes color from light green to brown. Therefore, on such a variety of “alligator pear”, green spots the size of a 5-kopeck coin can sometimes remain. This fruit is quite suitable for eating.

To make sure the avocado is ripe, gently press the top (narrower) part of the fruit. The pulp should be soft, like slightly thawed butter. When pressed, the peel will squeeze a little, dents should not remain. If the avocado is softer, then most likely it has already gone bad.

From the moment you press hard on the fruit, it will begin to spoil. The very next day at this place will appear dark spot, and very soon the fruit will no longer be suitable for eating.

Another important point: to find out if the avocado has gone bad, you need to listen to the sound of the stone inside the fruit. Take the “alligator pear” in your hands and gently shake it. You should hear a faint, dull thump of the bone against the walls. If there is no sound, then it is better to choose another fruit.

So to choose ripe avocado pay attention to three things:

1. fruit color
2. pulp density
3. bone sound

How to speed up ripening

Most often in the vegetable departments there is no soft avocado, all fruits are hard, not ripe. In this case, choose a fruit without dents, scratches and other damage. Try to choose the softest fruit so that the fruit ripens at home. Wrap the avocado in newspaper and then put it in a plastic bag. natural fabric(or wrap in a piece of fabric). Between the newspaper and the bag, place 1 dried chili pepper. This way the avocado will ripen much faster.

If you can't do this, store avocados at room temperature. Do not leave the fruit in the sun, do not put in the refrigerator. Within 2-7 days, the alligator pear will “reach”. At this time, try not to put pressure on the fruit, checking its ripeness, so as not to injure the tender pulp once again.

Peeling a ripe avocado is easy! Take no sharp knife, cut small piece peel near the stem. Then cut off the skin the way you would normally peel a potato. Remove the peel in a circle, and then remove the sides of the peel with your hand.

Then cut the avocado lengthwise into two pieces. In one of the parts there will be a large bone. Remove the pit carefully to keep the flesh intact.

Now the avocado can be cut for a salad or other dish.

Avocado instead of eggs

Many people think that a ripe avocado tastes like boiled eggs. IN vegetarian recipes often replace eggs with avocado slices. Yes, quite exotic option and not cheap. However, the result is worth it!

A little secret: salt the flesh of the avocado with pink (or black) salt to make the fruit even more similar to chicken eggs. Now this fruit can replace eggs in classic recipes salads, for example in Olivier.

What to cook with avocado

One of the simplest and most delicious “meals” is avocado pulp with salt, black pepper and lemon juice (just a few drops). If you are eating an avocado for the first time, then try the fruit in this form: cut the “alligator pear” into two halves without removing the peel. Remove the bone from the pulp. Salt and pepper the halves, sprinkle with lemon juice. Eat with a teaspoon.

You can also make Mexican guacamole pasta from avocados., salad with spicy chips,., you can make delicious avocado pulp with garlic and spices.

Avocados are rarely subjected to heat treatment, as this loses the taste of the fruit.

Avocado is a fruit that is widely used among Europeans. In addition to being good to eat raw, avocados are added to various salads, first courses, sauces. In addition to the ability to give food a special taste, it is also a low-calorie product.

There are quite a lot of varieties of this tropical inhabitant - at least 400. However, on the market we can buy nothing at all - three of them. Each of these varieties has its own taste, but it is important that the selected fruit is also suitable for creating simple or complex culinary masterpieces.

You can buy in stores one of the following varieties.

1. Californian. Its peel is brownish in color, and the flesh is very loose and juicy. Most often, this type is used in cooking for making soups or spreading on a piece of bread. can be eaten raw fruit, removing the skin from it and seizing the bone. Californian avocados can be found in stores regardless of the time of year. But there is a chance to buy fruits with dents that are invisible under the dark skin.
2. Florida. WITH smooth skin a shade of light green and a fairly high density of pulp. This variety is ideal in cooking for making rolls and salads, which are so popular today. It is the most delicious, but because of the thin skin, it must be peeled with a knife. big bone inside the fruit makes the fruit heavier in weight. low calorie The Florida avocado has made it popular with nutritionists.
3. Pinkerton. Dark green skin and numerous pimples - here distinctive features of this variety. A small stone adds pulp to the fruit. The dense peel is easily removed without peeling the fruit with a knife, while it is impossible to damage the ripe pulp. The Pinkerton variety is ideal for making sauces for rolls.

It is not enough to decide on a suitable fruit variety, you need to know how to choose the right avocado so that the fruit turns out to be ripe and tasty. When choosing an avocado, you need to thoroughly study the fruit before buying.

If, when pressed, the surface of the fruit remains unchanged, namely, solid, then the avocado is not ripe. On the contrary, too loose, soft peel indicates the overripeness of the fruit or initial stage its decay.

You need to buy the fruit, when pressed, a small depression remains, disappearing after a while. The surface of a ripe and high-quality avocado should be free of cracks, scratches and other damage.

The color of the fruit is not an indicator of its ripeness, because different grade has its own particular hue. Only knowing distinctive features of all types of avocados, you can accurately determine the maturity of the fruit by color.

If, after buying the fruit, doubts about its ripeness have not yet dissipated, you can consider a trace from the handle, tearing it away from the main part.

• brown shade- confirmation of overripe fruit.
• yellow green color and the firmness of the pulp indicate the unripeness of the avocado.
• Bright shade of green coupled with a soft fruit and protruding juice confirms the ripeness of the fruit and its quality.

Victoria from Volgograd

The family loves salads with avocados. How to choose the right fruit in the store so that it is ripe?

Exotic avocado - very delicious fruit, if chosen correctly. Determining its ripeness is not at all difficult, knowing some rules. If you still bought green fruit, dont be upset. It can be allowed to ripen at home.

Skin color

Not knowing how to determine the ripeness of an avocado, many people evaluate it first appearance and choose fruits with a brown skin. This is fundamentally wrong. The color of the skin and the shape of an avocado can reveal its variety and signal spoilage. In our stores you can find three varieties of this fruit:

Advice. Choose fruit that does not show signs of spoilage (cuts, dents, mold).

Fruit firmness

You can determine the ripeness of an avocado by tactile sensations, namely, by evaluating its hardness.
Pick up fruit and without special effort press the peel with your finger. The result of pressing will tell you about the ripeness of the avocado:

• the avocado is firm, there is no dent when pressed - the fruit is unripe, the flesh will be bitter and unpleasant in taste;
• “porridge” is felt inside, a deep dent is a signal that the avocado is overripe and most likely rotted inside;

By the firmness of the fruit, you can determine the degree of its ripeness

• when pressed, a dent formed and quickly went wrong - you have in your hands a perfectly ripe avocado with the best taste properties.

Advice. Don't go overboard with pressing the avocado. If the fruit is overripe, it may burst right in your hands. Why are you in trouble at the store?

The stone and the stalk will tell about ripeness

In a ripe avocado, the stone inside exfoliates from the pulp, and in green - fused with it. Hold the fruit to your ear and shake it. If you hear the tapping of the stone, do not hesitate, the avocado is ripe. Silence in response? Let this fruit ripen.

Fruit of optimal ripeness (left) and overripe (right)

The color of the place under the stalk is an indicator of the ripeness of the avocado:

• brown - the avocado is already overripe;
• with yellowness - it is still too early to eat fruit;
• bright green - here it is, the ideal exotic pulp. If the bonus to the color under the stem is Fresh Juice, feel free to buy fruit.

Ripening at home

Sometimes it happens that by negligence or intentionally I had to buy an unripe avocado. Do not despair. It can be allowed to ripen at home.

Avocados will ripen well in a paper bag

Wrap the fruit in plain paper ( paper towel) and leave it in the room. In 3-4 days he will "reach". If you want to speed up ripening, wrap bananas in avocado paper.

Advice. Do not put avocados in the refrigerator to ripen. This will only spoil it.

It is better to store a ripe avocado in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator, after wrapping it in paper. It will not last longer than two weeks, consider this when purchasing.

Avocado - dietary and very useful fruit With unusual taste. You already know how to choose an avocado. Use our tips to not throw money away.

How to choose an avocado: video

Avocado, a fruit that is very often used in European cuisine. It is added to sauces, salads, stuffed, rolls are made from it, eaten raw. Apart from palatability it is low in calories. Let's take a closer look at the advice of professionals on how to choose the right ripe fruit in the shop.

Some general information about avocados

There are over 400 varieties of this fruit. But only three come to our stores:

1. California variety. It has brown skin and soft flesh. It makes amazing soups, mashed potatoes, pasta for sandwiches, cocktails. This variety is sold throughout the year. Be careful, under the dark skin, sometimes you can not see dents and stains.
2. Florida avocado. It has a light green color and a denser pulp. Its skin is thin, so if you plan to eat it raw, you will have to use a knife. It is used for making salads, rolls, and due to its low calorie content, it is introduced into the main diet during the diet.
3. Variety Pinkerton. It is distinguished by a dark green color and finely pimply skin. It has a small bone, compared to the Florida variety, which means more pulp. Considered the most the best variety for rolls.

Avocado contains a large number of vitamin E - protecting cells from aging. The use of this fruit will reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, improve memory and lower blood cholesterol.

• First you need to make a visual inspection. It is necessary to carefully check the fruit for stains, depressions, rot and other damage. We look at the color of the skin, fruits with a darker color are usually ripe.

Attention! Keep in mind that there are many types of avocados whose skin color varies from dark green to brownish. If you don't know what kind is on sale, don't buy the largest fruit. Some species are dark green in color large bone, so choosing a large avocado will result in little pulp.

• Lightly press on the fruit. If the pulp was a little sold, but quickly restored the structure, then the fruit is ripe, if it is very hard, it is not ripe. If, after pressing, the dent does not recover, then the avocado is overripe.

Advice! An unripe avocado will ripen in 3-4 days when stored at home.

• The ripeness of the fruit is possible with the help of a bone. It is not necessary to cut the fruit in the store, just shake the fruit over your ear. If you hear the bone tapping, the avocado is ripe and delicious. If no matter how you shake, there are no sounds, do not buy such a fruit, it is still green and underripe.

In the event that you bought an avocado, but are not sure of its ripeness, then you can cut off the stalk and see what color the cut will become:

• a brown trail indicates that the fruit is overripe;
• yellow-green color means that the fruit is not ripe;
• a bright green cut, slightly moist and slightly soft - a sign of a perfectly ripe fruit.

Advice! If you do not plan to immediately eat the fruit after this procedure, drip lemon juice on the incision so that it does not quickly darken.

How to store avocados after purchase

Ripe fruit is stored in the refrigerator for 2 to 5 days. The main thing is that it should lie separately from bananas and apples. The best place- the last shelf of the refrigerator compartment, and make sure that the fruit does not lie next to the back wall, because. may be overwhelmed.

What to do if you bought an unripe fruit

You should not eat such a fruit, it must be left to ripen. To do this, put the avocado in paper bag and wrap in a towel. In this form, the fruits should be stored in a dark place, at room temperature, for example, in a closet. Depending on how ripe the fruit was, it needs to be kept for 2-10 days. Adding a banana or apple to the bag will help speed up ripening. The fact is that these fruits emit ethylene, which helps the accelerated ripening of avocados.

At first glance, all the fruits seem the same, but take your time. If you take a closer look at the color of the skin, you will see that it is different. Avocado has several varieties. Depending on the season, one or another species appears on the shelves. Here are the main representatives:

• California variety. The most common variety that lies on store shelves all year round. Its main feature is a dark brown skin with pimples. The flesh is light green in color with a slight smell of freshness, slightly soft. Inside, under a layer of pulp, a light brown bone is hidden. The California variety is used for slicing into salads, for making rolls and various snacks;
• Florida variety. The fruits appear not earlier than autumn, since it is after the summer that their rapid ripening begins. The skin is glossy, mostly green. The pulp is lean, but big amount juice inside. The bone is round. white;
• Pinkerton. The main distinguishing feature of Pinkerton from other representatives is the presence small bone inside the pulp. The skin is pimply, and its color is dark green. Pinkerton is sold year-round, as maturation occurs regardless of the time of year.

Interesting!

100 g of avocado pulp contains 150 kcal.

Try to buy fruit in trusted places where there is big choice. If there are several varieties, then think about the purpose for which you are purchasing the fruit. Thus, the Florida variety and Pinkerton are more suitable for consumption in fresh just. But the pulp of the Californian avocado can even be smeared on a loaf.

Criterias of choice

Before you rush to buy fruits, take a closer look at them. Turn the avocado in your hands, is there any damage on the skin? If yes, then take another fruit, evaluate it. The skin should not have deep scratches or cracks. If a specific pungent odor emanates from the fruit, the process of decay has most likely already begun. Evaluate the fetus according to several more criteria:

• skin color. It should be dark green or brown depending on the variety. Do not buy too light fruits, they are not yet ripe. The dark avocado is most likely already overripe, and you need to eat it in the near future;
• hardness. Try to lightly squeeze the fruit with your fingers and evaluate how you feel. If, after pressing, deep dents remain on the peel, then the pulp has already turned into “porridge”. When the fruit does not shrink at all, it is not yet ripe, the flesh is most likely still bitter in taste. The surest sign good avocado like this: after compression, fingerprints remained, but they quickly disappeared;
• stalk. The brown tail indicates that the fruit was plucked a long time ago, and it has already fully matured. The green stem says otherwise.

Even if you accidentally buy an unripe avocado, don't throw it away. The fruit will ripen normally at home. Wrap it in plain paper, leave it in a warm room for 2-3 days.

Attention!

To make the avocado ripen faster, place a ripe banana next to it.

How to clean

Peeling fruit is easy, even an inexperienced person can do it in a couple of minutes. Take a sharp knife and cutting board, and then proceed to clean up. For convenience, the process is divided into stages:

• wash the avocado, then blot with napkins;
• make deep cuts on the sides to divide the fruit into 2 halves. Carefully turn the halves in different sides: so you will see the bone;
• pry the bone with a knife, carefully remove it from the pulp;
• Remove the skin from the halves with a knife. It is quite easy to clean it, you do not need to take a knife, just pick up the tip of the peel with your fingers, pull it down, it will come off by itself;
• cut the fruit into slices or squares, as you prefer.

You can not get the pulp from the peel, for example, but eat it directly with a spoon. Remember that fruit after cutting should not be stored for a long time. Avocado in cut form is able to lie for a maximum of 2-3 days and only at a low temperature. Before storing half fruit, wrap the cut cling film and refrigerate. Avocado absorbs foreign matter well strong odors therefore it is not recommended to store nearby smelling products such as onions and garlic.

As it is

It all depends on your taste, as well as the availability of free time. The easiest way is to sprinkle the pulp with lemon juice, salt a little and eat with a spoon. Instead of lemon juice you can take soy sauce. In Europe, toast is prepared with pulp for breakfast. Take slices of toasted bread and spread the pulp on them. Top the sandwich with a couple of slices of bacon or fish fillet. You can even fry an egg or add a baked one. chicken breast. Breakfast will be unusual and very satisfying.

Avocado served as a side dish meat dishes or to a bird. Bake beef steak With Italian herbs in foil, put the peeled fruit slices on the dish along with the meat and sprinkle with lemon. Garnish the dish with parsley sprigs. You can use the fruit pulp to make various sauces. Make a salad dressing: mix the pulp from one avocado with spices and low-fat yogurt don't forget to salt. In addition to dressing, avocado is suitable for cooking mashed soups, it will add additional tenderness in taste.