{"id":53165,"date":"2019-10-08T13:47:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-08T17:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=53165"},"modified":"2021-04-19T09:49:57","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T13:49:57","slug":"guacamole-recipes-to-celebrate-national-hispanic-heritage-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/guacamole-recipes-to-celebrate-national-hispanic-heritage-month.html","title":{"rendered":"Guacamole Recipes to Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, to help celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about guacamole, an ancient treat created by the Aztecs in present-day Mexico. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

If you drive south on California\u2019s Interstate 15 toward San Diego County, you will see them: small produce stands where farmers sell fruits and vegetables to commuters and those making their way home from a weekend trip to the beach. One popular item at these stands is local avocados.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Guacamole with corn chips. The stone is said to prevent the rest of the preparation from oxydizing. Credit: Popo le Chien; Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

California is where domestic avocados are grown, by 3,000 avocado growers. (1) It\u2019s even the home of a uniquely California fruit, the Haas Avocado (yes, avocados are fruits). Originally referred to as \u201cAlligator Pears\u201d in older recipes, California has been growing avocados since 1871 from trees imported from Mexico. (2)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), 4 March 1934, page 38<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s no doubt in my mind that the best thing to do with avocados is to make guacamole, an ancient Mexican treat first created by the Aztecs. Guacamole is a simple recipe combining mashed-up avocados with salt and lime juice \u2013 but like many recipes, it has evolved over time.<\/p>\n

Guacamole?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is guacamole? Today you may think of it as a dip for tortilla chips, but in the past the term \u201cguacamole\u201d was a little looser and often referred to a salad. Consider this 1934 recipe that includes green peppers, pimento, and French Dressing. It instructs the home cook to \u201cnot mold this salad. Let it drop onto the lettuce with a splash motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas), 9 March 1934, page 14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas), 9 March 1934, page 14<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A similar guacamole salad recipe was submitted by a reader of the New Orleans newspaper Times-Picayune<\/em> in 1939. Mrs. R. H. Nestler relates that her friend had visited Mexico and was given the recipe by a restaurant owner who was only too happy to share. The recipe includes avocados, hard boiled eggs, stuffed olives, tomatoes, onion, and French Dressing.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), 22 July 1939, page 16<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Guacamole wasn\u2019t always well-known in the U.S, even in California \u2013 as this 1940s Sacramento, California, food column demonstrates. The guacamole recipe is similar to the ones above, and the writer even tells the reader how to pronounce it (wa-ca-molay).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California), 16 December 1940, page 18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Guacamole!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems whenever we go out for Mexican food, we end up ordering guacamole \u2013 and whether it\u2019s served at a restaurant or we make it at home, the preparation is fairly simple. The only thing that is important to keep in mind is to add citric acid (lemon or lime) to keep the dip from turning brown from being in the air for too long. Otherwise, whether you like onion or tomato in it or prefer to add some hot sauce or jalapenos for a little kick, it always is the best addition to a meal.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 20 February 1975, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My favorite cookbook author, Elena Zelayeta, was a \u201crock star\u201d chef long before Food Network was an idea. She even had a TV show before Julia Child! Her Mexican cookbooks were popular (Elena\u2019s Famous Mexican and Spanish Recipes<\/em> published in 1944 had over 70 printings), and of course she had her own version of guacamole which was published in her cookbooks and in the newspaper.<\/p>\n

This column from 1953 includes her advice that guacamole is a salad, a sauce, a filling for tortillas and a garnish. She also advises that \u201cMexicans do not mash their guacamole to a smooth paste as do Americans… there are lumps in it.\u201d My favorite part of this recipe is the suggestion to add \u201ccrumbled bacon, chopped peanuts or, best of all, chicharones.\u201d Chicharones are described in this article as \u201ccrisp fried bacon rings.\u201d A better description might be fried pork rinds.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), 22 January 1953, page 26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A<\/a>
San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, California), 22 January 1953, page 26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s Your Guacamole Recipe?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hungry? I know I am! Guacamole is a favorite at my house, but it\u2019s not the only thing you can do with avocados. Do a search on GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> for avocado (or for earlier recipes use the phrase \u201calligator pear\u201d) to find some other great ideas.<\/p>\n

_________________<\/p>\n

(1) \u201cThe History of California Avocados,\u201d California Avocado Commission (https:\/\/www.californiaavocado.com\/avocado101\/the-california-difference\/avocado-history<\/a>: accessed 16 September 2019).
\n(2) Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about guacamole (with recipes), an ancient treat created by the Aztecs in present-day Mexico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":53207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12427],"tags":[19013,47115,2020],"class_list":["post-53165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-recipes","tag-food-and-recipes","tag-guacamole","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/photo-1008-2019-featured-graphic-guacamole.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53165"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66661,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53165\/revisions\/66661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}