Last week, I received a shipment of 7 different avocados from Avocado Monthly / Emerald Hills Farm, which is a mom-and pop, mail-order avocado shipper in Fallbrook owned by Rekha Patel and her husband. They took over the place from Ralph and Sunny Foster a few months ago. The GEM, Fuerte and Hass avocados she sent me are now ready to eat. The Wurtz, Lamb Hass, and Pinkerton, and Sir Prize will wait for a later post.
Of course, the problem with taste-testing avocados is that they usually have different “ripening windows.” For example—according to Greg Alder’s indispensable growing chart (available at Yardposts.com)—we are at the end of the Fuerte season, toward the beginning of GEM, and mid-way through Hass. To paraphrase Kenny Rogers, every avocado’s a winner and every avocado’s a loser, depending on the season.
In my opinion, this phenomenon is reflected in today’s taste off. The GEM was beautiful inside and out, perfectly ripe, and easy to cut (its peel is stiffer, like a Reed). But its texture was slightly watery, with much lower in oil content than the other two. It was fine, but clearly will be much better in a month.
The FUERTE was very good—smooth as butter, high oil content, and delicious. I love Fuerte because it is nuttier and less neutral than Hass. But it is a bit past its prime in terms of taste. They were better in the winter. Still, this is a really high-quality avocado.
But HASS was the clear winner of this test. As I tell people in my avocado talks (if you haven’t bought my new book “California Avocados: A Delicious History” now is a great time!), there is a reason why Hass ultimately took over top spot from Fuerte. Actually, there are several reasons, but the main one is its high oil content. Rekha’s Hass was absolutely perfect—better than anything from Mexico—smooth, neutral but pleasant in taste, rich and oily. A superior avocado.
Thanks again, Rekha, for letting me sample your avocados. Check out her website or DM her if you want to get on her mailing list. Until next time… peace, love, and guacamole!
