(Nieve de Aguacate)
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Zarela Martinez's book The Food and Life of Oaxaca. Martinez also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.
To read more about Martinez and Oaxacan cuisine, click here.
The idea of making ice cream from avocados is not strange or outlandish to Oaxacans. In many Latin American countries, avocados are eaten as dessert. (Brazilians make them into a sweet mousse.) Nieve de Aguacate is one of the perennial favorites at Oaxaca City ice-cream stands. It is naturally creamier than the usual fruit-based nieves; but some acid is necessary to offset the blandness of the avocado. Fresh lime juice is the perfect complement.
•"Oaxaca City is one of the world capitals of ices or 'snows,'" says Martinez. Countless flavors, including avocado, papaya, guava, and tamarind, are served in the plaza of La Soledad church. This basic recipe can be used as the basis for experimentation with many kinds of tropical fruit: Instead of the lime juice and avocados, use a thawed 14-ounce package of frozen fruit pulp (sold puréed or in chunks in Latin American and Asian stores). If using puréed fruit, you can omit the blending or food-processing step and simply mix the ingredients in a bowl before freezing. Adjust the amount of simple syrup according to the natural sweetness of the fruit.
•"The texture you should be trying to achieve is not that of a rich, silky ice cream, but rather something like a sherbet or ice milk," says Martinez. She recommends the Donvier brand ice cream maker from France for the excellent Oaxacan-style ices it produces, but this recipe works with any brand.
