Avocado, anyone?

Avocado, to me, is a weird fruit. It doesn't taste fruity, it has a taste that I find very, very bland (up to "this tastes like nothing", but I like the texture it has. I got into first contact with them quite, quite late, and I think my first taste where I really liked them was as avocado sushi roll. (Texture, you see? That weird crumbly-melty mouthfeel in with the rice and the wasabi and soy sauce tastes, something like a cool melting blandness on the tongue.)

Recently, though, I have been experimenting in the kitchen, and in my quest for new (new to me, at least) recipes I have stumbled across avocado pudding. Yes, avocado pudding.

Basically, you take an avocado and puree it, adding something for sweetness (like a banana that you puree right along with it, or a few dates, or honey, or cold baked sweet potato, or fine sugar) and something for taste in addition to the banana or whatever - such as vanilla, cocoa, or berries. (Or not, depending on your preferences.) Plus maybe some liquid - water, milk, almond milk, whatever, to give it a slightly softer texture and have some more of it. It seems to be a thing out there, in the raw/vegan/"paleo" scene. I thought it weird at first (possibly not least because I am sceptic about things praised as "soooo good" and "even better than the original version" by vegans) and sort of stalked the basic idea for a while, not knowing whether I should or not. Then I tried it.

I don't much care for the taste of sweet potato in there, but with banana and strawberries? Really nice. Especially if you add in some chunks of fresh fruit, too. The most patient husband of them all tried the sweet potato version and found it rather... well... very much not to his taste, but then I haven't warmed to his favourite avocado version either (he likes it with some mustard, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper as sauce).

So if you are feeling adventurous and have an avocado and a banana to spare - you might want to try it. I'm not regretting that I did! (In case you want more of a recipe than I have given, any search engine will inundate you with recipes, and probably also with praise of the oh-best-thing-ever.)