It doesn’t have any particularly poetic origin, but Guacamole Day is a terrific excuse to indulge in the tastiest of dips. Not only is it a great addition to a savoury spread, it’s also good for you! “Guac” is made from avocados, which are nutrient dense and packed with healthy fats that help lower cholesterol, which all contributes to you having a good ol’ time for as long as possible.
- Over 45 Million pounds of Avocado are consumed on Superbowl Sunday.
- The Apollo 11 astronauts brought guacamole to space with them! However, they did not eat it, since, according to Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, “that pig Buzz Aldrin ate all the chips before we even left earth.”
- Avocado competes with buffalo wings and pizza as The Superbowl Food, thanks to a successful marketing campaign by avocado growers over the past 2 decades.
- Avocados are unique fruit. They have a high fat content, but this is a “good” fat – monounsaturated fat.
- A whole avocado contains 200-300 calories and is a good source of vitamin A, C, E and the B vitamins, as well as fiber and potassium.
- Guacamole is Aztec for “Avocado Sauce”, the original recipe calling for crushed avocado, tomatoes and salt.
- The popularity of guacamole spread into the United States in the 1800s. Avocado trees were first planted in Florida in 1833 by Dr. Henry Perrine. The trees blossomed in southern Florida, and there are now more than 50 varieties cultivated in the sunshine state. The majority of avocados grown in Florida today are in Miami-Dade County.
- Avocados made their debut in California in 1871. Judge R.B. Ord was credited with planting the first trees in Santa Barbara. Other planters followed suit by importing trees from Mexico and central America.
- In the early 1900s, avocados frequently went by the name alligator pear.
- avocados are actually berries! Experts at the University of California explain that fruits fall into two categories: dry and fleshy.
- The Hass avocado is the most popular varietal of avocado and is named after postal worker Rudolph Hass, who purchased the seedling in 1926 from a California farmer and patented it in 1935
- 95% of commercially grown avocados come from trees descended from a single tree owned by a California mail carrier.
- Musician Jack White’s recipe for guacamole, which was included as part of his contract for performing at the University of Oklahoma in 2015, was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request from the university.
- Scientists have unearthed evidence from a cave in Mexico’s Coxcatlan in Mexico, which reveal that avocados were used as far back as in 10,000 BCE.
- The avocado, first known as the ahuacate, has been cultivated and eaten in Mexico, Central America, and South America.
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