Avocado Week: October 19th to 25th, 2009
Did you know?
- Avocados are tasty, versatile and good for you – but each year only one in four of us Britons eats these deliciously healthy fruits
- Half a medium avocado (72 grams) contains just 133 calories - 50% less than a plain bagel. Half also counts as one portion of your 5-a-day
- The Aztecs associated the avocado with fertility – the name avocado comes from the Aztec word for testicle
- Avocados contain monounsaturated fats and tryptophan – which boost endorphins in the brain
Britain will be going mad for avocados this autumn with the launch of the first ever Avocado Week.
Taking place from October 19th to 25th, Avocado Week will feature exciting events for avocado lovers and the unconverted alike. These include opportunities to taste the fruit in supermarkets around the country and radio interviews about the fruit; while shoppers who buy avocados during the week will have the chance to win a week’s grocery shopping for free.
Thomasina Miers, television chef and owner of London’s Wahaca restaurants, is spokesperson for the campaign. She is developing exciting recipes for the campaign, and during Avocado Week will be demonstrating avocado skills, taking part in interviews and hosting the annual Avocado Brotherhood lunch, which is held every year in London for lovers of this delicious fruit.
Thomasina says: “I am delighted to be part of the UK’s first avocado week. It still amazes me that so few of us eat them – only a quarter of us in the UK have caught on to this healthy treat. It is not altogether surprising...I used to think they were a little strange until I became suspicious of how my sister always fought for the largest share of them at home...if she was so keen on them, it meant I had to be missing something. I soon became hooked by their smooth, creamy flesh. What is more they are incredibly good for you, full of oils that keep skin looking young and healthy and feed the brain. Avocados are an original superfood.
“In Wahaca we get through 90 boxes a week across our restaurants...it seems that our customers, like me, can’t get enough of them. The real key lies in how to spot the ripe ones and how to store them. Avocados should be soft when you eat them and gently give when you press them at the top. If they are hard, keep them in a brown paper bag in a warm place and wait until they’re ready. Then you can really tuck in an eat them in sandwiches, soups, salads or just as a snack on toast with plenty of salt and pepper.”
Other activities centred around Avocado Week include and ‘Deliciously Healthy Avocados’ taxi cabs in London, magazine and newspaper features on the fruit, and an Avocado Ambassador, who will visit chefs’ colleges around the country.
Avocado Week is an initiative by the Chilean Hass Avocado Association, whose members, growers and exporters, are the main source of the Hass variety during the winter season.
Notes for editors
- Thomasina Miers is a previous winner of Masterchef and a big fan of Latin food and of Hass avocados
- Chile shares the www.deliciouslyhealthyavocados.com website with Peruvian growers, who use the site during the summer season for Hass avocados
- Chilean Hass avocados are transported to the UK by ship
- Hass avocados contain no cholesterol and actually help lower cholesterol. Eating them helps keep blood sugar levels stable, which helps you feel full for longer.
- Avocados are a good source of fibre, containing one of the highest levels of dietary fibre per, 100g, of any commonly eaten fruit.
- Avocados contain 12.5 per cent more potassium in 100g than bananas – the sportsperson’s favourite.
Source: McCance & Widdowson’s The Composition of Food’s sixth summary edition
For more information or photography featuring Hass avocados please contact:
Dominic Weaver, RED Communications Ltd, on 01480 465953.
Email: dominic@redcomm.co.uk
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