Thursday 19 May 2011

A Taste of Australian Avocados

Mr Avocado

"Hello", the avocado beacons as I entered the foyer of the lecture theatre of Berjaya University College of Hospitality. The avocados on display looked so fresh and inviting and it's no wonder since I was invited for this A Taste of Australian Avocados event by Agri-Science Queensland in partnership with The Avocado Export Company and brought in via Euro-Atlantic, the importer of hass and shepard avocados.

The event was kicked off and Jodie Campbell was introduced to us. Campbell has more than 2o years in research, development, extension and marketing in Australian and International Horticulture. She gave us and introduction on avocados, benefits and uses of avocados, guiding us on how to select good quality avocados to choosing the right ripeness.

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There's always a misconception of avocados being very fattening and it's not helping when the Chinese calls it "ngaw yau gor" (butter fruit). Not sure why it's named in such but I think it's because of the texture of avocado is similar to butter. Do note that avocados are densed in nutrients which is rich in vitamin C, E, K, folic acid and potassium. They are low in sugar and salt-free. They have antioxidant, anti-viral and anti-bacteria properties which helps to lower cholesterol. Best of all, avocados contained mono-unsaturated fats to maintain a healthy weight! Do head to Australian Avocado for the detailed health benefits.

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We were taught not to simply poke on the avocado with our fingers to check for it's ripeness. One can check the colour chart or by placing the whole avocado on our palm and just squeeze gently to check for firmness as demonstrated by PureGlutton in the photo below.

This is how you should test an avocado

Next we have Chef Malcolm of Berjaya University College of Hospitality demonstrating to us on how to prepare Avocado Zimbabui, a very simple dish of beef bacon with avocado served with smoked salmon.

Chef Malcolm

Chef Malcolm showed how to remove the peel from avocado and how to slice them for this dish.

Chef Malcolm 2

We got to sample some avocado inspired dishes prepared by the university college ranging from avocado  salsa dip, salad, pasta, Avocado Zimbabui and guess what... rainbow coloured macarons filled with avocado cream as filling!

Tea break

We were presented with a fruit basket that of course contained avocados and some other fruits imported by Euro-Atlantic. I will post up some of the ideas on what I did with the fruits and avocado in my next post.

Thanks to Scribe Media for the invite to an afternoon of very educational introduction on avocados.

13 comments:

  1. Makes me crave avocado salad now... :P

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  2. Lucky you! Love avocados. I've also tried some indonesian ones. They're twice the size and round but less buttery ... quite good! Really cheap too!

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  3. Nice! I would love to try the macarons with avocado cream.

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  4. I am such a big fan of hass avocados!! You lucky girl!!!

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  5. Hehe, never knew avocados are such super fruits hoh!

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  6. Kenny, healthy eating!

    Ping, yeah I tried once but my area can't find :(

    LCOM, would love to see the results!

    Joe ;-)

    Daphne, who is lucky now? It's quite expensive here you know :(

    PG, ya lor, really an eye opener cos I thot it's fattening :p

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  7. Someone told me can get at Chow Kit market or was it Chow Kit rd? Is there a market there? I'm not too familiar with that part of town.

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  8. Yes Ping, can get from Chow Kit market but I hardly step food there. Have to be careful when you're there as many incidents of slashing handbags to retrieve wallets/phones

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  9. Oh how we miss avocadoes! The California Haas are so delicious. We like to just eat them plain with a little soy sauce. Of course, salads and guacamoles. And the best is to make an avocado shake by buzzing it with vanilla ice cream.... smack smack.

    So where can we buy these, and how much are they selling for?

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  10. Nate, can't find them in your area? Over here I've seen them at Cold Storages. Can't remember how much they're selling at.

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  11. I love avocado. I always order avocado dish if I see it in the menu of the eatery I went to.

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  12. Simon, now you can try out some simple snacks at home :p

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Blog Revamping

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Babe_KL
16 Oct 2012