About Us, and the Blog

an expat guide to cooking abroad


We are two expats currently living in Thailand who are big foodies and love to cook. While cooking familiar and new foods can be a little difficult overseas, especially where we live (not in a major city), there are also great, fresh ingredients available at markets that can turn into some truly delicious dishes.

We're challenging ourselves to be creative with what we have, cook more from scratch, and to appreciate the ingredients available to us. We also look forward to sharing our adventures with you, and hope that you enjoy reading and trying some of our recipes - whether you also live in a challenging cooking environment or have the ingredients at your fingertips.

27 August 2012

a world of food opened by avocados

"...the avocado is a food without rival among the fruits, the veritable fruit of paradise." - American botanist David Fairchild 

    There are 3 strains of avocado: the Mexican, Guatemalan, and West Indian or Caribbean strains. These are the most common strains consumed globally. If you are as curious as me about the avocado check out avocado recipes or Wikipedia.


    When I think of this veritable fruit of paradise, the first food that comes to mind is guacamole. Even here in Asia, a very good guacamole can be made. Its vibrant greens and subtle yellows make it a beautiful addition to the sparseness that is supposed to be our kitchen. And then the uses of guacamole make it an essential condiment in our fridge as a sandwich spread, cracker/chip dip, a dressing for chickens or stakes, and I'm sure many other uses. If you have other brilliant uses for guacamole please share!

   Basic guacamole recipe:

2 cloves of garlic
1/2 of a medium onion
fresh cilantro
1 large avocado

1 small lime

salt to taste

Directions:
  1. Mince the garlic and onion and set aside (larger chunks of onion add texture)
  2. Finely chop the cilantro and set aside
  3. Remove the avocado pit and mash the flesh in large bowl
  4. Add the garlic, onion and cilantro
  5. Add the juice of the lime
  6. Add salt to taste
 *tomato chunks and habanero peppers make excellent additions to the basic recipe above.

In this part of Thailand, avocado's are only seasonal so grab them fast!!! Clearly, avocados can be used in many other things. We have also used it in an amazing pasta avocado cream sauce and to supplement sandwiches or salads. If you have great ideas for avocado uses, post them here.


Our picture didn't turn out so great so here is another that looks similar to ours.
By Javier Lastras from España/Spain (Guacamole) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
By Javier Lastras from España/Spain (Guacamole) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

2 comments:

  1. Your blog looks great guys! I use avocado in place of mayonnaise for tuna salad. It creates a creamy texture with less fat, and the avocado flavor does not overwhelm the tuna. I'm sure you could use it for chicken salad, too. Just be sure to squeeze about half a lemon in with it to prevent oxidation. Keep on cooking!!

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  2. OOO as a mayo substitution is a great idea. That just expanded the avocado possibilities to nearly all mayo based foods. Thanks for reading! Hopefully, we'll start posting weekly. I like to use lime in place of lemon to prevent oxidation. It adds a different dimension to the sour profile.

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