> >such as an underripe Hass avocado.
>
> It has come to my attention that the avocado, of which the Hass I may
> assume is at least one of the so-called edible varieties, is a
> vegetable... well, one can certainly call it a vegetable, it being
> green... of questionable charm, fully lacking in actual food content by
> volume, byzantinally difficult to eat, in most portions inedible if not
> injurious, and capable of achieving any tastiness only through the
> application of herbed butters or spiced oils.
>
> It reigns right up there in this writer's opinion with tripe- I wonder to
> what depths of deprivation and hunger the first ingestor of these foods
> had succumbed before driven to partake.
>
> Then again, I'll have extra guacamole with that burrito....
Wade, I believe you are confusing avocados with artichokes.
Avocados are in fact very easy to eat, having a simple, fairly easily
removable rind (black or green, depending on variety), and a single large
pit, the remainder being extremely edible, chartreuse, fatty flesh. They
are eaten raw, sliced or chopped into salads. Avocados are the source for
guacamole, and half of one also makes a nice nest for a small shrimp
salad.
Artichokes, on the other hand, are quite byzantine in their construction
and the methods of their conquest. They look like vegetable pangolins,
with little claws on their leaf-tips, and blond fur in their
scale-protected underbellies. They require steaming or boiling, the
plucking, dipping, and tooth-scraping of individual leaves, and, when you
reach the heart, shaving with a fork or knife. Artichoke hearts can
also be found marinated, in jars, in which case you avoid the fuss, but,
personally, I like the foreplay.
Anyone who is confused about artichokes and/or avocados may find more
information and pictures at
www.avocado.org
and
www.artichokes.net
I apologize for the digression.
--Eva
[This message was not paid for any produce interest group]