Try Some Alligator Toast!

TOM'S AVOCADO TOAST

Parkside Tap House | 115 W 3rd St, Chico

Sourdough, avocado, black pepper, 2 eggs any way, tomato, greens.

It’s easy to see why avocados received the sobriquet (a fancy word for nickname) alligator pear. The skin certainly resembles a ‘gator, with its lumpy, bumpy dark green surface and pebbled texture, but the comparisons end there. I imagine you could create some form of “alligator toast” with ‘gator meat and some nice Giannini’s SF Sourdough bread. Yum! However, alligator is hard to find in Chico, so you’ll have to settle for avocado.

Did you know avocado is actually a berry?

“The avocado fruit is a climactic, singleseeded berry, due to the imperceptible endocarp covering the seed, rather than a drupe.” Please send the definitions of climactic, endocarp, and drupe to me. Thanks!

The Weekly Special

Ethan's Eatery | 2275 Myers St, Oroville

A surprise avocado toast each and every week made from seasonal ingredients!

For years, people claimed avocados were bad for you due to their high fat content. Of course, those same people said you’d drop dead of a heart attack if you ate more than one chicken egg a month. These days, we know avocados are loaded with good fats (such as monounsaturated) and oleic, palmitic, and linoleic acids. Though they do have some saturated fat, avocados also provide 28% of the daily value of vitamin E, 30% DV of B6, 41% of folate, 35% of vitamin K, and minimal potassium, manganese, magnesium, and zinc.

PLEASE NOTE: Avocados can be toxic to some animals! Do not feed to your dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, or fish. The pit is especially toxic to horses and cattle.

Most of the world’s avocados are produced in Mexico, and the crop is a huge money maker for the country. The state of Michoacan exports roughly $2.8 billion in avocados yearly. With that type of profit, the avocado trade has attracted the attention of the Mexican drug cartels. They currently use the time-honored mob technique of “Hey, that’s a nice avocado farm you got there. It would be too bad if anything happened to it.” So, avocados have become a victim of the cartel protection racket. Sadly, the lime industry in Mexico has begun to suffer from the same treatment, and prices have risen dramatically because of it.

But here we are, way up in Northern California, looking forward to our avocado toast. When did that become a thing? Of course you can indulge in avocados in a variety of ways, including fresh slices, guacamole, avocado oil for cooking and salads, and most interesting, an avocado milkshake with ice cream and chocolate syrup! No matter what, there’s bound to be a favorite avocado dish for you.

Avocados are a delicious addition to just about any meal, but when it comes to summertime, there are few things that satisfy quite like an icy avocado margarita at Tres Hombres in Downtown Chico. Getting in on that cold avocado goodness before 5pm is a cinch with the following recipe. It's the perfect non-alcoholic substitution—just make sure you save some room for the real thing.

1 ripe banana, sliced

1 avocado, peeled/pitted 2 tsp honey (optional)

¼ tsp vanilla extract

2 cups low-fat milk or almond milk, chilled 5 ice cubes

Blend banana, avocado and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Add vanilla, milk and ice and blend for 30 seconds.

Serve immediately.