Guacamole (Salsa Cruda)
Starter: serves 2. Total time: 15 minutes plus 30 minutes chilling time
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Your support makes all the difference.Arguments about what constitutes "proper" guacamole tend to be bloody and long drawn out. One camp accepts nothing but oil, lemon or lime juice, salt, black and cayenne peppers and occasionally fresh green coriander in a smooth puree, even resorting to the food processor for an extra velvety texture. The other comes up with chunky mixtures, which purists just call salsa cruda.
1 Hass avocado, ripe and soft but not mushy
1 large tomato (beef or
marmande) or 4 ordinary salad tomatoes
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh
green coriander
1 clove garlic peeled and
minced
12 fresh hot green chilli peppers
seeds removed, flesh finely
minced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed
lemon juice
12 tablespoons best olive oil
salt and freshly ground black
pepper
cayenne pepper
Cut the avocado in half lengthways around the stone. Twist to separate the two halves. Lever out the stone with the point of a knife. Spoon out the flesh on to a board, scraping the inside of the skin clean. Chop up the flesh quite finely and scrape into a bowl.
Skin the tomatoes. This is made easier by loosening the skin first, either by scalding them briefly on boiling water or by skewering them on a carving fork and holding them over a naked gas flame until the skin chars and splits.
Cut out the hard stem-joint bit of the tomatoes. Cut the fruit in half crossways. Scrape out all the pockets of seeds with your fingers and discard. Finely dice the remaining flesh and add to the bowl with the coriander, garlic, chillies, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings.
Mix thoroughly. Chill for up to 30 minutes, then serve before the dip begins to discolour.
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