Photo courtesy: Zone Fresh
We've all seen Robert Redford in the 1998 Hollywood hit, The Horse Whisperer, but Brisbane has a different kind - an avocado whisperer!
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, avocados are the most nutritious fruit in the world and Zone Fresh's own avocado whisperer Joe Hanuman knows all the ins and outs of how to pick the best and can guarantee you a ripe one, every time.
Ripe and ready
"A lot of fruit shops will purchase avocados well before they ripen to lengthen their retail life but they tend to stay hard, and then you have people that come along and give them a good squeeze which is actually doing them more damage than good," Joe cautioned.
So, just like in The Horse Whisperer, a softly-softly approach is the best way to go about nurturing and enjoying this season's avocados.
"Avocados need to ripen gradually. At Zone Fresh, we have separate storage rooms which are kept at optimal temperatures to let them ripen at the right pace.
"Before they leave the markets, avocados are gassed so that they ripen more quickly, however due to the large amount of quantities it can be difficult to coordinate getting them to the retailers within the right time frame to make sure they don't spoil," he said.
"The Zone Fresh team can guarantee our customers a ripe and ready to eat avocado every time - just check them for our "ripe and ready" stickers."
Avocado season
Contrary to popular belief, avocados are available all year but the best season is right now, from May to October, with the most readily available varieties being Hass, Shepherd, Sharwil, Wurtz and Reed.
How to pick a ripe avocado
The best way to pick an avocado is still by feel. Make sure it doesn't feel like guacamole, but still quite firm all over with a slight softness.
One of the biggest myths, Joe says, is that putting avocados in the fridge doesn't stop the ripening process, but only slows it down.
"As soon as you get your avocados home, store them in a cool, dry place and then once they are ripe, keep them in your fridge's crisper."
An avocado will have a window of two to five days once it's ripe to be eaten.
Avocado recipe
When asked what his favourite avocado recipe is, Joe is willing to share his all-time favourite - finely chop some red salad onion and avocado together with a bit of pepper and squeeze of lemon then mix in some Farina tuna, and place on top of a chunk of white, crusty bread. He's yet to find someone that doesn't like it!
