The Mexican avocado business has been taken over by cartels...I will not buy Mexican avocados...

[pbmus]

Link to tweet

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-real-cost-of-avocados-facts-and-health-economy

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. Your link does NOT mention "cartel" and doesn't support your stance as far as I can tell.

You'll have to find something else if you wish to be convincing.

[pbmus]

2. Here...

https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/the-real-cost-of-avocados-facts-and-health-economy

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Thanks. . . . nt

[pbmus]

4. Also here....sorry, I was trying to update

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/may/18/avocado-police-tancitaro-mexico-law-drug-cartels?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[2naSalit]

5. So that's why they look like crap and cost $2 a piece now.

Thanks, I was wondering what happened there. It was rather sudden in my area.

[tirebiter]

6. And the down side?

I haven't heard of any guacamole freebasing.

[pbmus]

7. Funding cartels...

But your premise is funny..

[Kali]

8. Huh?

Big Ag maybe - is that what you mean? I don't think the criminal/drug cartels are into avocados too much.

[UTUSN]

9. Blame Martha STEWART. For the cutting wounds, that is.

A few years ago she was showing off what she had picked up on her vacations/"research", whatever - namely, how to extract an avocado seed the way the natives do. This being, with the avocado sliced in half, with the gigantic seed still embedded in one of the halfs: To *AXE* a large knife onto the woody seed, *deeply* enough so as to then *extract* it by lifting back the large knife, like pulling a molar. I can visualize Martha in a Mexican pool bar watching a sassy dude *AXE* a blade deep, deep onto an huge, woody avocado seed.

This should not be tried at home unless one is a native with elastically primitive motor reflexes.

So this has led to many injuries in recent years, named something like "avocado woody something or other."

Our genuine Lib heroine (*not* being sarcastic/snarky: for real Lib heroine), Joy BEHAR a couple of months ago was off work recuperating from some kind of avocado slicing incident, not known whether the Martha "axe" method.

*********TIP to Lounge food gourmands: All ya gotta do is cut the 'cado in half, then use a large spoon or even a fork or even a butter knife to loosen the seed, prying around the edges, and scoop it out. Also, to peel the halves out of the peel, use the large SPOON. Ya don't have to slice and act like a circus act.

[Blue_true]

10. I slice them in half, then use a teaspoon to scoop out the seed.

It comes out real easy and I don't risk cutting myself with a sharp knife.

[UTUSN]

13. A teaspoon?!1 Well, O.K., I use a tablespoon or serving spoon the size of the pit.

[Cha]

21. I know.. sorry, that struck me as funny..

".. a teaspoon.."?! My avos are bigger than that.

[moriah]

26. Maybe the long handle helps leverage?

All I know is my fake guac-like dip (half a cado and a spoonfull of Chunky Pace smashed together) is yummy, and because it's all smashed it doesn't matter if it's pretty. And most of the time, single-serving.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. A few things here. First of all, I highly doubt this has jack to do with Martha Stewart. Anyone

who's ever been to a taquería, an open kitchen restaurant or even the places where they make table side guacamole would've seen this technique. Same with anyone who's ever watched a PBS cooking show.

There's nothing complicated nor does this require these so called "elastically primitive motor reflexes" (whatever that means). Anyone who's dumb enough to whack an avocado half with their sharpest knife has other issues and should maybe stay away from the kitchen altogether. If you're using a sharp knife you tap then turn. If not you use a duller knife and tap slightly harder then turn.

I don't know a single person who has ever hurt themselves doing this. Regardless of where they're from or where they learned it.

[UTUSN]

17. 1- the *only* time I've seen it was Martha guesting on a non-cooking show.

Last edited Tue Aug 28, 2018, 02:33 AM - Edit history (5)

And Martha is the only person sharing a screen with an avocado on my t.v. So it *does* have anecdotal "jack" to do with Martha in my experience.

2- the only taquerias I've graced did not perform demonstrations and I don't watch cooking shows.

3- Martha regaled us about having learned to whack on a trip to Mexico, and she performed the whacking holding the pit half in one hand while whacking the large knife at the pit/hand. So clue to you: most people don't have my aforesaid skilled motor reflexes that Martha and the people she learned from have, so she/they aren't dumb, while the very few unskilled ones who might try it would qualify as stupid but not necessarily without speech.

4- Martha's appearance was a couple or more years ago and only a year or so is when I saw news items about avocado slicing injuries, YouTubes are available, I'm not providing fetching services here. I don't know anybody injured this way either but my narrative counts as actually anecdotal, not as offhandedly dismissive. A post above refers to cutting risk and as I said originally Joy Behar missed work over it a couple of months ago (no, she didn't call me personally but it happened), so it's not my invention.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

18. When you say you blame her for the cutting wounds. Did you mean

"my", as in your cutting wounds? I interpreted "the" cutting wounds as something that was wide spread that you blamed her for. If I understand correctly now. That post was strictly about your experience and not some sort of phenomenon that was happening through the country.

But to the other point. "Demonstrations" aren't required looking behind the register while they make the stuff. Anyone could plainly see how it's done. They don't keep it a state secret or anything like that.

[UTUSN]

19. I'm not through with my other reply, am pecking on phone.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

20. I see that and it reads even weirder than the previous replies. So, peace out! nt

[UTUSN]

23. Haha!1 the peace out takes a bit of the previous sting off, even if weirdly.

[UTUSN]

22. I don't know where the "my" comes from (i ain't one of the dumb ones).

And long before I recently heard about Bourdain's first book telling about unspeakable food preparation, I made it my habit not to look behind registers. And it was Martha who presented it as what you call a state secret, more like a flashy ooo-evoking magic trick.

And while my first post was backstory of seeing Martha, yes, it alluded to a fairly frequent trend according to news items beyond which I can't vouch for to the level of a national phenomenon.

[Retrograde]

24. I whack the seed with a chef's knife

but I (usually) put the halved avocado on a cutting board first. Then I push the pit off the knife from behind, avoiding contact with the sharp edge. Holding the avocado half in a thick potholder or towel also helps prevent hand injuries.

[UTUSN]

25. You know what you're doing, so You re fine!1

[Blue_true]

11. Very good and large avocados are produced in southern Florida.

I have purchased them. They are organically grown and due to their size, produce lots of guacamole. I love using guacamole as a sandwich spread, takes a sandwich to another level.

[NCTraveler]

12. Slight bit more mild in taste..

Large and very consistent. I use them on or in a number of things.

[Blue_true]

28. A friend that is in the restaurant business taught me this.

If you want to take somewhat bland ingredients to another level, add Onion Powder and Iodized Salt in a 4:1 ratio (i.e., if you add 1/8 teaspoon of iodized salt, use 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder). Produces explosive flavor. She said that onion powder is a good way to get kids to eat and love onions, as it can be blended into most stuff, except bean soups and kids will never detect the presence of onion, but they will react to the intense flavor improvement.

[NickB79]

14. They also contribute to the monarch butterfly decline

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/high-demand-for-avocados-could-impact-monarch-butterflies/71057/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. No worries here in California--I buy only home-grown ones at the farmer's market.

Organically grown too.

[SharonClark]

27. I went to a Farmer's Market in CA and a vender was selling 6 or 7 varieties

It was amazing how different they tasted and a couple were just plain awful with an unappealing texture.

Mostly Haas in the stores around here but I purchased another variety that was very dark with a pebbly texture. Those never ripened successfuly and had to be tossed.