Why does sushi contain avocado? Lately, I have been watching too many videos on street food around the world on TikTok and Instagram as part of clearing my head before bed. Variations of avocado on toast and sushi came up a lot in those videos. As avocado comes from my part of the world, I was curious as why it's a staple in some Asian cuisines.
Avocado pear is native to the Americas. The Aztecs called it 'ahuacatl,' which, via Spanish, became avocado in English. The scientific name is Persea americana or American pear. The pear was a hit on the Ships of the Apocalypse which arrived in the Caribbean in 1492. The avocado was used as butter on bread and biscuits on the ships. Avocado toast is old.
There are three different types of avocados. The Caribbean type probably came from the Americas mainland. It is another indicator of the cultural and trade ties between the islands and the mainland. It might also have reached the islands in the initial Spanish conquest of the region. In Jamaica, we call avocado simply as pear.
The first mention of avocado in English is by in 1657 by Hans Sloane in his book on his travels in Jamaica. He is best known as a founder of the British Museum, the British Library and the Natural History Museum. Sloane was a remarkable scientist, collector and writer, who left an astonishing gift to the nation. Until recently the august institutions worked hard to honour and keep his memory in this way. But the Black Lives Matter protests reignited debates on the legacies of slavery and how it continues to shape our lives and organizations. So, the institutions now acknowledge that Sloane owned slaves, and made a fortune from the slave trade – just like other members of the elite and royals in his times.
The history of the avocado can't be divorced from the history of European empires and their trade in Indigenous genocide and Black enslavement in the Americas.
The Spanish introduced avocados from the Caribbean to their other colonies. It was in Indonesia by 1750s and in the Philippines a century later.
Today the top ten avocado producers are: Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Brazil, Haiti, Vietnam and Chile. Most of the countries are still in the Americas, reflecting the roots of the pear. The odd three, one in Africa and two in Asia, show how the legacies of empire and trade shape the foods and ecologies of the world.
There are other ways of eating avocado apart from using it in salads, spreading it on toast and including it in sushi. On my list is to make avocado milkshake and ice-cream. Or I might just try and grow the seed as a houseplant.
© Jacqueline L. Scott. You can support the blog here.
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