Guacamole Recipe

The Secrets to Great Guacamole

On vacation, I read a travel magazine that featured an article about a cooking school in Mexico at a posh resort called Las Ventanas al Paraiso, which is located in Los Cabos. In the article, executive Chef Fabrice Guisset talks about making a classic guacamole recipe that he says is “the best guacamole in Mexico.”

My wife is the guacamole maker in our house, making a great guacamole. She tells me the trick is to work the avocado sparingly, precisely what this article talked about.

It said,

Every bite should have a slightly different taste and texture.” It said, “If it all tastes the same, it’s no fun to eat, and it has yet to be made right.

They say that if you put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and puree them up, you won’t be able to taste the different layers with each bite. I’m sure most of you are used to a whipped style of guacamole served at Mexican restaurants or purchased at the supermarket.

There is nothing wrong with this style of guacamole. We purchase a brand of refrigerated guacamole at Costco that is perfect when someone drops over unexpectedly and you need a quick appetizer.

We usually buy a few at a time and keep some in the freezer. My wife often adds some fresh avocado to give it the extra flavor and texture, and our friends rave about it

Back to the Best Guacamole Recipe

According to Chef Guisset, the secret to great guacamole is the

combination of whole avocado pieces plus slightly mashed avocado and other ingredients.” The article describes, “the outside of the fruit, just under the skin, is softer than the flesh closest to the pit.” So ideally, you want to mash the softer pieces of the flesh and combine them with the firmer pieces.

Of course, you want to use a ripe avocado, not a rock-hard, unripe one. You won’t get anywhere with those. Once you have the avocado prepped, you want to combine it with, according to Chef Guisset, “small amounts of raw onion, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, and salt, all to taste.

The Best Tool For Preparing a Great Guacamole Recipe

The article talks about using a molcajete (mol-kah-HAY-tay), a Mexican mortar and pestle made from volcanic lava rock found in most Mexican kitchens. Using a mortar and pestle, a home cook can regulate the texture of the guacamole and, therefore, “improve flavor.”

We use a fork in our house and get pretty good results, but I will have to try using a molcajete in the future. You can also try using a potato masher.

Another Point of View

This sounds good, and I love cooking by taste without exact measurements. Still, I know my readers like something more definitive, so I consulted with a cookbook recently given to me by my sister-in-law by Chef Rick Bayless called Mexican Everyday.

My sister-in-law Judy loves this cookbook and has made many recipes in it and told me they have all been fantastic. I can’t wait to try some of these recipes myself and report them to you.

What Does Chef Bayless Say

Chef Bayless says classic Mexican guacamole is a condiment to be “spread on sandwiches and grilled meat” made with three ingredients: avocado, garlic, and salt. Anything extra to some Mexican cooks is “the first step on the road to ruin.” In other words, less is more.

I’m sure most of you think of cilantro and lime juice in addition to avocado, garlic, and salt when preparing guacamole. So, Chef Bayless shows you three ways to make guacamole in Mexican Everyday. As he describes them, “Simple, Herby or Luxurious.”