Avocado Lovers in Louisiana Reveal How to Pick the Ripe Ones

This weekend many Louisiana residents will make a pass by their favorite grocery store to pick up an item that’s not usually considered part of a Cajun or Creole diet. However, these items are among the most popular items served on weekends when the National Football League holds its annual championship game 

Yes, we’re talking about the Super Bowl game between Kansas City and San Francisco.  I am going out on a limb to say that most fans of Louisiana’s NFL team, the New Orleans Saints, cannot under any circumstances bring themselves to cheer for the 49ers from California’s San Francisco Bay Area. It is due to decades of defeats handed to the black and gold by the 49ers when both teams were in the NFC’s Western Division.  

As far as Kansas City Chiefs fans in Louisiana, there are probably some. But to say this weekend’s game is a “must-see” in Louisiana would probably not be a correct assumption. That’s not to say that folks won’t tune in to the game or go to a party where the game might be playing.  

And that’s what brings us to the avocado. According to the Hass Avocado Board, Super Bowl weekend is the weekend that most avocados are sold and eaten. And the reason they are purchasing avocados is most likely to create a wonderful dip that either loved or loathed, there appears to be no middle ground when it comes to guacamole, right?

My friends at ESSEN Catering who operate out of Conroe, Texas say they create a guacamole bar for their clients. It's like a salad bar that has mashed avocados, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and other accouterments that people like in their guacamole and the guests make their own.

While mixing a good guacamole is a great skill to have. The more pertinent skill comes long before the first pit is pulled and the avocado is mashed. That skill is how to tell when an avocado is ripe and ready for use.  You probably know the frustration. 

Avocados and bananas seem to be plotting against us humans. Both items appear to be wonderful and fresh in the store but by the time we get them home, they have developed brown spots, mushy areas, or are just downright foul smelling. While I can’t help with the bananas, I do have some advice for avocados.