Avocado soup

Preparation Time: 60 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4-6

Wedding anniversaries being what they are in our household, the choice is often eat out, but considering the current state of the world’s financial systems, prudence dictated eat in last week, when our 32^nd wedding anniversary rolled around, which was significant enough to warrant a three course dinner complete with bubbly.

The main course was crispy roast duck with watercress mash and warm beetroot salad, and the dessert was a devastating crème caramel.

After much thought, and considering the Afrikado Challenge, I realised that something which my dear old late mum used to make, would be ideal: cold avocado soup.

I have so many wonderful memoriess of the elegant dinner parties my mum used to host when the family lived in Durban. Anything from three to five courses, and anything from four to twelve guests, every single course prepared with meticulous attention to detail by mum, and a table setting that would have put the Royal Hotel to shame, complete with silver plate. One of the many dishes I remember enjoying was her cold avocado soup, and considering that summer has arrived, this is what we settled on.

According to mum, the original recipe comes from one of Lynn Bedford-Hall’s books, but I had to make a couple of changes, because the first version didn’t quite work out right.

Ingredient Selection and Preparation

2 medium or 3 small avocado pears: they must be blemish free and ripe. Leave them until the very last, because if you peel them too early, the pulp will start to oxidise. When you do peel them, check very carefully for any brown spots, and excise them carefully. Mash well with a metal fork.

3tsp lemon juice

25ml chopped parsley

2 spring onions: finely chopped.

30g butter

40g flour

400ml chicken stock: if you use stock powder, be sure to strain the stock before you use it.

400ml milk: heat it to just below boiling before you use it.

Salt and pepper to taste

Paprika to garnish

Avocado balls to garnish: I gouged them out of another avocado pear, using a melon scoop.

Method

Make your chicken stock and heat the milk.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour bit by bit, stirring in with a balloon whisk until all the flour is integrated into the butter.

Remove from the heat, and add the chicken stock followed by the milk, stirring all the time with a balloon whisk. Be sure that there are no lumps.

Return to the heat, and cook for about three minutes or until the sauce is smooth and thickened nicely. Stir constantly to prevent sticking.

Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove from the heat, and pour into a glass mixing jug large enough to accommodate the white sauce as well the avocado pulp. Place a sheet of cling wrap on top of, actually touching the surface of the white sauce, to prevent a skin from forming while it cools.

Set aside to cool to room temperature. This is very important, because if you add the avocado pear pulp to white hot sauce, it will oxidise and turn brown. I know this because this is precisely what happened with the first batch I made!

Once the white sauce has cooled completely, blanch the avocado pears in boiling water for a minute, then peel and mash them. Add to the white sauce, together with the 3tsp of lemon juice, the parsley and spring onion.

Puree the mixture in a blender jug, or with a stab blender.

Divide between four or six bowls, and garnish each with three or four avocado balls and a sprinkling of paprika.

Enjoy!