Tuesday, July 17th, 2018 01:59 pm
Did we really need to brand West Indies type avocados as SlimCados? I am happy to see them commercially after Hurricane Andrew, but ... slimcado? Why not use actual cultivar names?

And for the folks who disdain the West Indies type avocados, i don't get the indignation. Do they get bent out of shape over plantains? Do they expect granny smith apples to taste like golden delicious?

Treating Haas avocados as THE avocado is like treating Dwarf Cavendish as THE banana. All Dwarf Cavendish and all Haas and all Golden Delicious are each clones. If some virus or fungus or whatever becomes particularly deadly, we could loose all commercial Cavendish bananas. Haas could go the same way. Admittedly, i've no idea if avocado trees are more robust than bananas, or if bananas have some particularly virulent agents.

Back to West Indies type avocados, i grew up with them. My grandmother lived in Homestead Florida, and her second husband ran some of the large commercial farms. When we saw them, they would bring or have the large avocados and gleaned field ripened tomatoes. With the addition of bread, salt, pepper, and lime juice we would have delicious sandwiches. We didn't have guac made from them, but cubes tossed in salads.
Tuesday, July 17th, 2018 08:21 pm (UTC)
Do they expect granny smith apples to taste like golden delicious?

No, and that's exactly why I don't purchase golden delicious. I like my apples to taste good to me.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2018 12:42 am (UTC)
The indignation makes no sense to me either. But then as far as I'm concerned, all avocados are good avocados. Also, avocado and tomato sandwiches sound fabulous.