You’d have thought we’d know how to cut an avocado by now, but for some, getting one of their five-a-day can result in them losing a finger. Surely we don’t need warning stickers on our fruit… Or do we?
It’s Sunday, 11am, and I’m sat in one of my favourite south London eateries with my girlfriend. As we excitedly scan the brunch menu (yes, I’m one of those – don’t worry, it gets worse), me sipping my almond flat white (told you), my other half places her order. ‘I’ll have the smashed avocado on rye bread.’ (she’s just as bad).
Yum! I had the shakshuka, in case you were wondering.
Far from simply treating my partner to a fancy mid-morning meal, by leaving the house and having a professional prepare us some food, it actually turns out I’m protecting us both from inflicting a horrendous injury on ourselves.
Gone are the days when brunch was seen as a delicacy reserved for the metropolitan elite. Today, it’s a case of self-preservation.
It’s been a week and a half since a number of A&E departments reported a trend in brunch-related injuries; specifically in the preparation of avocado – the breakfast fruit favourite of city folk. Unfortunately, it seems they aren’t capable of safely cutting and destoning it themselves.
Avocado hand
The epidemic, being labelled ‘avocado hand’, has prompted health professionals having to treat the walking wounded – and hungry – to suggest the issuing of safety warnings.
Simon Eccles, honorary secretary of British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (Bapras) said: ‘There is minimal understanding of how to handle them. Perhaps we could have a cartoon picture of an avocado with a knife, and a big red cross going through it?’
Is this the world gone mad? Perhaps it’s something those brave enough to make avocado and poached eggs should seriously consider before picking up a knife.
Would you pay any attention to a warning sticker on an avocado? Do you have any battle scars where you’ve managed to accidentally impale yourself on a kitchen utensil?
Before signing off, and in an attempt to keep our community safe from the mouthwatering menace that is avocado, we wanted to share our tips for destoning and enjoying avocados safely.
Tip 1 Scoop out the stone with a spoon.
Tip 2 Hack down onto the stone with a knife so the middle of the blade (not the tip) just penetrates the surface, then twist to remove.
Tip 3 Invest in an avocado tool (yes, there really are such things – Google it!).
Update: 8 December 2017
Marks & Spencer may just have solved the problem of ‘avocado hand’, if only for Christmas, by launching stoneless avocados.
The supermarket’s new ‘cocktail avocados’, which will only be on sale in December, come without the perilous stone and can be eaten skin and all, so you don’t even have to peel them. If that doesn’t appeal, you can simply cut off one end and squeeze out the flesh.
Grown in Spain and measuring just 5-8cm in length, the groundbreaking fruit is the result of an unpollinated avocado blossom, which develops without the seed.
Loading ...
