It’s very tempting to buy ready-made tapenade, guacamole, mayonnaise or fish paté. It’s easier, much quicker and you don’t need to worry about ingredients and recipes. Very true. On the other hand, we also know that most of these ready-made products contain far too much salt plus additives that shouldn’t be in there. For instance, we found a trout paté with rapeseed oil, vinegar, egg, salt, lemon juice, sugar and paprika. The ingredients in a jar with guacamole included mascarpone, cellulose gum, sugar (again) and coconut oil.

The good news is that making your own guacamole is very simple. The only challenge is to buy ripe and tasty avocados. When in doubt, ask your greengrocer.
Guacamole combines very well with nachos, chips and toast, but also with baked potatoes, fried fish and smoked salmon. We like to enjoy it with our beloved (Flemish) grey small shrimps.

Wine Pairing

If you serve guacamole with small shrimps as a starter, then we suggest a refreshing white wine, for instance a glass of Viognier. You could also serve a glass of dry rosé.

What You Need

• 2 Ripe Avocados
• Small Red Onion or Shallot
• Small Garlic Clove
• Red Chili Pepper
• Lemon
• Soy Sauce
• 100 grams Small (Grey) Shrimps
• Black Pepper
• Cilantro (optional)

What You Do

Peel both avocados, remove the seeds and chop coarsely. Finely chop the shallot, the garlic clove and some red chilli pepper. How much you use depends on the spiciness of the pepper and your preference. Add one avocado to the beaker of your blender. Add the shallot, garlic and chili pepper. Add a small splash (start with half a teaspoon) of soy sauce and a bigger splash of lemon juice. Add the remaining avocado and blender until smooth. Taste and decide if you want to add more lemon juice or soy sauce. Transfer to the refrigerator.
Serve with small shrimps, black pepper and cilantro.

PS

We know, we start by mentioning that ready-made guacamole contains odd ingredients like mascarpone and then we suggest adding soy sauce to this typical Mexican dish. Inconsistent to say the least. Well, guacamole needs a pinch of salt. You could (of course) add regular salt, but by adding a drop of fish sauce or soy sauce, you also add some umami, which seems to work well with the avocado and the shrimps.