The Cocoanut

I, like most Malaysians got my first taste of guacamole courtesy of the Tex-Mex chains like TGI Fridays or Chilis, where the dip is served alongside nachos baked with bits of chicken and cheese. I remember really loving the food there, sizzling steak with cheesy mashed potatoes, chocolate milkshake, brownies with hot fudge sauce, ohh the brownies! American food is so comforting.

Once I was at a lunch buffet where they had a cheese platter, with an assortment of crackers and a bowl of guacamole, its luscious green somewhat highlighting its awkward sole presence among the assortment of yellow-tinged cheese and crackers. Whatever, I wasn’t about to debate the geopolitics of dishes, and scooped a greedy portion into my plate. I then did what any greedy buffet customer would, and slathered the guacamole judiciously on to my crackers. The next two seconds produced the most intensely painful sub-atomic explosion through my nasal cavities as I belatedly realized I had just spread hazardous amounts of wasabi on my innocent crackers.

Guacamole

2 large ripe avocados
2 tablespoons lime juice, or to taste
1 tomato, seeded and finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
about 2 tablespoon’s worth of finely chopped spring onions
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon paprika or chili powder, for that little bit of heat

Put the avocado and lime juice in a large bowl and mash. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.