Rock the Guac

My friend Hortensia brought me  fresh tomatoes from her garden- and some other beautiful green things.  Then I went to the store & brought back another very Native fruit- the avocado- some cilantro, and a poblano pepper.

Avocados AKA Persea Americana AKA Alligator Pears are  mashed together with homemade, spicy tomato salsa, making a rich & delicious accompaniment to many foods.  That is more or less the  form of guacamole most familiar for many people here- and if you make it from scratch, it is greatly appreciated.

OK, you twisted my arm, and I will surrender my recipe to you. This is how I make my famous, authentic smoked pepper Eskimo Guac.

Please locate the following ingredients, if you can:

-a Poblano green pepper (a green, sweet pepper would also be good)

-1/2 a  small red onion, shaved thin & chopped to atoms (I use a mandolin)

-1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

-a clove of garlic, also minced to smaller atoms

-a lime, halved & juiced

-1/2 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp hickory salt (otherwise use plain, table salt)

-one tsp chili powder (or ground, dried red chili)

a couple of dashes of tabasco sauce

-a full 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

-if you happen to have it on hand, 1/2 tsp dried, or 1 tsp fresh Epazote (fresh is better).  This is a traditional Native herb, and it gives an almost indefinable, gently sharp, chocolate flavor, when not cooked.  When cooked with beans, it aids digestion, and it also tastes very, very good.

2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped

There is only one ingredient here that requires some special attention- the poblano pepper.  Roast it over a fire of some kind, or roast it almost black in a heavy skillet on top of the stove:

This may take several minutes, but be patient.  The pepper builds up steam inside & cooks.  The charred outside gives you some complex, deep flavors.

When the pepper is no longer recognizably green, take it off the heat & place it in a paper bag:

Now, seal the bag & forget about it for a while.

After a few minutes, open the bag & scrape off the charred skin.  You can use the flat of a knife, your fingers, or even paper towels.  Clean out the ribs and seeds, and then cut into fine strips.  Then chop the pepper very finely.

Now you can begin to mix your salsa together- everything all at once.  And now you can also split & mash your avocado.  I think I use almost 1/2 cup of salsa to each avocado.  Some people like to keep the avocado in big chunks, or cut in large pieces -you can do it whichever way makes you happy.

C’mon baby let’s do the salsa

finished guac and salsa

salsa fixings

When I entered the whole foods restaurant business I had been prepared

by my family, & my own exploration of foods.  Salsa was a joy to learn,

- with the summer farmers market you can find everything you

need for a very traditional salsa.  You can use it as a springboard

for many other variations.I like color (you eat first with your eyes),

so it's nice to use red onions (or scallion), multicolor tomatoes-

and I love a little heat, but you can keep the Scoville factor down

by removing the inner membrane/seed of a jalapeno (or serrano 

pepper, for that matter). Chilies can vary widely in heat; a jalapeno

grows according to its individual characteristics as well as growing

conditions.  Chili (like coconut and chocolate) is a natural mood

elevator, and is abundant in the Vital Amino (Vitamin) C.  I like

to use a few ingredients that you don't always encounter in US versions

of salsa fresca - namely hickory salt (just a 1/2 tsp in a small batch of

maybe a pint; also a little ground chili powder (any variety- to get an

idea of what's out there, go to 'Seed Search, Native foods' on the web-

you'll also be saving Indigenous seed varieties. I  visited their storefront

in Tucson AZ many times and it's an amazing place.

One other ingredient I really like to use is fresh or dried Epazote,

a piquant Native plant frequently found in Central American Indigenous

cookery, with an intriguing chocolate undertone. When I make

guacamole I usually make salsa fresca first, and then 

combine a little bit with smashed up avocado, along with a little

extra cracked black pepper and maybe a little salt.