Rick DeLucio sat down with me recently to talk about my book “Temecula Valley Wineries” for his new podcast “Pour Temecula.” You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 is here. I really enjoyed our time together. Rick knows a ton about wine in Temecula and beyond. This is Part 1 of that interview. I hope you like it!
Recently, I reviewed the (very rare) avocados I’d received from Greg Alder. This week, I taste tested of David Mora’s avocados. Dave has a grove in Alta Loma where he grows a number of different varieties. He was kind enough to send me some of them. I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last week eating them. And taking notes, of course. These varieties—while still uncommon—are fairly well known to hard-core avocado aficionados. Several of them are mentioned in my book “California Avocados: A Delicious History.” They were some of the tastiest avocados I’ve ever had. Thank you, David.
FUERTE: The O.G. California variety. I grew up with this avocado in Fallbrook. Fuerte became the dominant avocado in the 1930s after it proved to be superior in most every respect (especially taste!) to the 80 or so other varieties of the time. By 1960, Fuerte represented at least 80% of the state’s avocados. It was eventually surpassed by Hass in the 1980s. Now it’s almost impossible to find outside of farmer’s markets and hobbyist growers like Dave. His Fuerte is a good representative of the breed. Medium sized, green skin at ripeness, thick enough to peel easily, medium seed. Smooth and creamy with firm, pale yellow flesh. Very flavorful. High oil content. A deep yet mild flavor. Lighter and less dense than Hass, but more flavorful. This was the avocado that made Californians fall in love with avocado. A superior avocado.
SHARWIL: This is an Australian “invention,” around 1960. It is fairly rare outside that country, though it found a home in Hawaii as well. I’d never had one. It resembles a Fuerte, though it did grow fairly black as it ripened. Medium to small size, with dense yellow-green flesh. Easily peelable. Pleasant, nutty taste. Mild but high in oil with no aftertaste or fibers. Creamy with a better flavor than Hass. Sharwil’s flavor reminds me of Edranol or GEM. Greg Alder has an excellent profile of Sharwil (and so many others!) at his Yard Posts site here. A superior avocado.
CARMEN HASS: This is a rounder, smaller version of a Hass avocado to which it is related and with which it is often confused. In fact, Mexico often ships Carmen as Hass. Black, thick pebbly skin like Hass, which came apart in pieces when I tried to peel it. A cream-colored skin with light green at the edges. Pleasant taste, but a bit neutral or bland, like Hass. High in oil and dense flesh. Low moisture. A high-quality avocado.
JAN BOYCE. I was excited to try this variety, which many avo experts (including the Avocado Queen Julie Frink) list as their favorite variety. Greg Alder calls it the “connoisseur’s avocado” in his description. It is almost egg shaped, small to medium-size, very thin green skin at ripeness; impossible to peel. Nicely maintained its form when I cut it; no mushiness. Very small seed. Pretty green around the edge with light but dense yellow flesh. High in oil. A mild, pleasant, almost smoky flavor. A subtly profound taste. In my top 3 now! A superior avocado.
GWEN: I’ve had Gwen avocados in the past and they are usually excellent. They look just like medium Hass, with a sort-of dark forest green skin at ripeness. Large pit with firm, pale yellow flesh. Mild taste but interesting, with no aftertaste or stringiness. Better flavor than the Carmen or Hass. A superior avocado.
David also let me try one of his Hass avocados, which was delicious. He sent me a gorgeous GEM avocado which is not yet ripe. I will review GEM—the most promising successor to Hass, if there—in a later post.
Thanks again, David!
In exchange for a copy of my avocado book, master gardener Greg Alder of Ramona generously sent me a box of mixed avocado varieties, including some very obscure ones. Have you ever eaten a Nowell? Edranol? Cadway? Neither have I. If you want to know everything there is to know about growing avocados and other fruit!, check out his Yard Posts here.
One lesson I had to re-learn in my tasting is that different avocados ripen in different ways. Some, like Hass, are ready to go right when they become slightly soft to the touch. But others—especially the green skins—seem to need to be much softer before they reach peak flavor.
NOWELL: This was the smallest avocado I tried. It tasted a little underripe; I probably should have waited another few days or maybe it’s early in its season. It has the greenest flesh of any avocado I’ve ever seen. Quite mild and neutral tasting with medium oil content. Interesting with a pleasant vegetable-y taste. The tiny seed left a bit of its coat in the flesh.
CADWAY: Like the others, this is a green skin. A beautiful little avocado almost as round as some Carmens I’ve seen. Medium seed and yellow flesh. Very creamy texture with pleasantly mild, clean taste. Below average oil content. Perhaps should have allowed to get a bit softer.
EDRANOL. The best! Another green skin, but thick enough to peel easily. Very green flesh, especially toward the edges. Super smooth and creamy with high oil content. Buttery. Might be one of the best avocados I’ve ever eaten. The taste is somewhere between Hass and Fuerte, incorporating the best qualities of both. This is a fantastic avocado.
LAMORINDA. Yet another avocado I’d never heard of. Smaller fruit with very thin skin but peelable. Very pleasant, mild flavor, though (again!) I should have waited a few more days. Somewhat chewy texture. Medium oil content.
HASS. The only one I’d heard of. I tried Greg’s small Hass along with another California Hass I got at the market. I also tried one from Mexico. Both Cali Hass were delicious, though they seemed slightly lower in oil content, maybe because it’s fairly early in the season? The two California avocados tasted the same—medium plus oil content, buttery texture, pleasantly mild Hass taste. Delicious. The Mexican avocado was good too, with perhaps higher oil content, drier texture. But it had an almost neutral flavor–very little taste at all. I preferred the California avos. Interestingly, the store-bought Cali Hass & the Mexican Hass began to oxidize rapidly after opening. Greg’s is still just as beautiful hours after opening. Maybe the difference between pre-ripening and not?
Thank you again, Greg! I enjoyed trying these avocados. I hope people go to your site for avo information and to order avocados from you when they’re available.
