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!
