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Avocado toast

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Avocado toast

Avocado toast is an open sandwich consisting of toasted bread topped with mashed avocado, plus any of a variety of spices and flavorful ingredients; the most popular include salt and black pepper, lemon juice or other citrus flavors, olive oil, hummus, vinegar, red pepper, feta, duqqa and tomato.

Avocado toast became a food trend in the 2010s; however, the preparation has appeared on café menus since at least the 1990s. There have been several debates about where the dish first appeared on menus. Following avocado toast's elevation to trend status, the act of ordering avocado toast at a café was criticized as a symbol of frivolous spending,[1] along with the environmental impact of shipping the fruit from subtropical growing regions.

Origins

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Ingredients for avocado toast

Avocados are grown around the world in tropical climates, historically in Mesoamerica and Northern South America.[2] The trees and fruit have been cultivated by pre-Columbian civilizations from South Central Mexico for nearly 9,000 years.[2][3]

Sliced or mashed avocado has been eaten on some sort of bread, flatbread, or tortilla (often heated or toasted) for centuries, before any documented or written history. In Chile, avocado on marraqueta or "pan con palta" or "tostadas con palta" is a common traditional breakfast[4] and has been eaten since at least 1926, as the recipe is written in the book "Manual de Cocina" by Lucia Larrain Bulnes.

The consumption of avocados on bread or toast has been reported in various sources from the late 19th century onward however, there has been debate over when the dish first appeared on menus. In the San Francisco Bay Area, people have been eating avocado toast since at least 1885.[4][5] In 1915, the California Avocado Association described serving small squares of avocado toast as an appetizer.[6] In an article published in The New Yorker on 1 May 1937, titled "Avocado, or the Future of Eating", the writer eats "avocado sandwich on whole wheat and a lime rickey."[7] In 1962, an article in The New York Times showcased a "special" way to serve avocado as the filling of a toasted sandwich. According to The Washington Post, chef Bill Granger may have been the first person to put avocado toast on a modern café menu in 1993 in Sydney,[8] although the dish is documented in Brisbane, Australia, as early as 1929.[9] In 1999, food writer Nigel Slater published a recipe for an avocado "bruschetta" in The Guardian. The journalist and editor Lauren Oyler credited Cafe Gitane with bringing the dish to the United States in its "Instagrammable" form, as it grew as a food trend.

Variations

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Variations include avocado on sweet potato toast,[10] avocado and Vegemite toast,[11] French toast with avocado and Parmesan,[12] avocado toast fingers with soft-boiled eggs,[13] avocado and baked beans on toast,[14] and avocado and feta smash[clarification needed] on toasted rye.[15] Another common variation is toast with smashed avocados, soft-boiled egg, and other toppings, often including hot sauce.[16]

Modern day

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Avocado toast topped with tomato and olive salsa, served with a cup of coffee

Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow have been credited with the popularization of avocado toast through her recipe book, It's All Good. The dish was popularized on social media, with many food bloggers recreating the dish. Bon Appétit magazine published a recipe for "Your New Avocado Toast" in its January 2015, and by 2016, the dish was being depicted on T-shirts, with the Washington Post calling it "more than just a meal – it's a meme".[8]

Jayne Orenstein of The Washington Post reports, "avocado toast has come to define what makes food trends this decade: It's healthy and yet ever-so-slightly indulgent. It can be made vegan and gluten-free."

Economy

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Further information: Middle-class squeeze

Some writers argue that the dish's popularity overlaps with the clean living movement.[17]

In Australia in late 2016, consumption of avocado smashed on toast became a target of criticism, after columnist Bernard Salt in The Australian wrote an article about how "young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more", arguing that they should be saving to buy a house instead.[18] (Salt later said that his piece was intended to humorously satirise the conservative attitudes of baby boomers.[19]) The article made headlines internationally[20] and became a stereotype of the millennial generation.[21]

Millennials countered that they felt "a sense of futility" in saving for a house with the high cost of housing in Australia,[22] and the Sydney Morning Herald calculated that a person saving $66 a week on brunch while property prices continued to rise year on year would only be able to afford a 10% house deposit in Hobart, with all other capital cities being unaffordable.[23] Furthermore, cafés were said to have become the primary space for millennials to catch up with their friends.[24]

In 2017, it was reported that the popularity of the dish had increased the price of avocados.[25][26] In 2018, the consequent demand for avocados was said to have been place unprecedented pressure on the environment, leading some environmentally aware cafés to remove avocado toast from their menus.[27][28][29]

Tim Gurner, a 35-year-old Australian property developer, stated in May 2017 that millennials should not be buying smashed avocado and $4 lattes in their pursuit of home ownership.[30][31][32][33][34] In response to this, it was estimated that the savings of forgoing avocado on toast would be an estimated €500 annually, and that at this rate it would take over 500 years to save for a house in Ireland, at current market prices.[35] This use of avocado toast has been likened to David Bach's "Latte Factor".[36]

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Avocado toast.

References

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  1. ^ "How row over mashed avocado toast is dividing Australian generations". BBC News. 18 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b Landon, Amanda J. (2009). "Domestication and Significance of Persea americana, the Avocado, in Mesoamerica". Nebraska Anthropologist. 47. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  3. ^ Schaffer, B (2013). The avocado: botany, production and uses. Wallingford, Oxfordshire, UK: CABI. ISBN 978-1-84593-701-0.
  4. ^ a b "General Notes". Daily Alta California. California Digital Newspaper Collection. University of California. 5 November 1885. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  5. ^ Pereira, Alyssa (21 July 2017). "San Franciscans have been making avocado toast for more than 130 years". SFGate. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  6. ^ California Avocado Association (1915). "Annual Report" (PDF). Avocado Source. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 September 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  7. ^ Oyler, Lauren. "My Fruitful Search for the Origins of Avocado Toast". Broadly. Vice. Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  8. ^ a b Orenstein, Jayne. "How the Internet became ridiculously obsessed with avocado toast". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  9. ^ O'Connell, Jan (17 September 1920). "1929 Avocado on toast first mentioned". Australian food history timeline. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Avocado Bruschetta on Sweet Potato Toast". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  11. ^ "Avocado and Vegemite Toast". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  12. ^ "French Toast with Avocado & Shaved Parmesan". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Avocado Toast Finger with Soft-Boiled Eggs". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Avocado and Baked Beans on Toast". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  15. ^ "Avocado and Feta Smash on Toasted Rye". Australian Avocados. Hort Innovation. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  16. ^ Krista (15 May 2017). "Smashed Avocado Toast with Soft Boiled Egg". Joyful Healthy Eats. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  17. ^ Goldfield, Hannah. "The Trend is Toast". The New Yorker. Conde Nast. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  18. ^ Salt, Bernard (16 October 2016). "Evils of the hipster cafe". The Australian. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  19. ^ Salt, Bernard (21 October 2016). "Tweet all you like, but avo look at what was written". The Australian. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  20. ^ Schwarz, Kirrily (23 May 2017). "Avocado toast mortgages have gone global". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  21. ^ Standage, Tom (8 December 2021). "Does It Make Sense to Categorize People by Generation?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  22. ^ Taylor, David (17 October 2016). "Millennials hit back at housing claims in 'smashed avocado' debate". ABC News. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  23. ^ Fitzsimmons, Caitlin (23 October 2016). "Avocado economics for first-home buyers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  24. ^ Connellan, Nick (17 October 2016). "The Smashed Avocado Generation". Broadsheet. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  25. ^ Verhage, Julie (8 May 2017). "From unicorns to avocado toast, hipster fads jack up food prices". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  26. ^ Brown, Genevieve Shaw (8 September 2014). "Why Avocado Toast Is the Hottest New Breakfast Food". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  27. ^ Barr, Sabrina (2 December 2018). "Avocados banned from trendy cafes over environmental concerns". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  28. ^ Howell, Madeleine; May, Gareth (4 April 2019). "The hidden cruelty of the cashew industry – and the other fashionable foods that aren't as virtuous as they appear". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  29. ^ "The Avocado War". Rotten. Season 2. Episode 1. 4 October 2019. Netflix. Archived from the original on 5 September 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  30. ^ Reid, David (16 May 2017). "Millionaire says millennials should stop buying avocado in order to buy dream home". CNBC. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  31. ^ Cummings, William (16 May 2017). "Millionaire to Millennials: Your avocado toast addiction is costing you a house". USA Today. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  32. ^ Levin, Sam (15 May 2017). "Millionaire tells millennials: if you want a house, stop buying avocado toast". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  33. ^ Horowitz, Julia (15 May 2017). "Millionaire to millennials: Lay off the avocado toast if you want a house". CNN. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  34. ^ "'Don't buy $19 smashed avocado': Melbourne property tycoon hammers millennials over spending habits". 9News. 15 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  35. ^ Jones, Fionnuala (17 May 2017). "Here's how much avocado toast equates to a house in Ireland". News Talk. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  36. ^ Burkeman, Oliver (8 December 2017). "Will you be able to afford a flat if you stop buying avocado toast?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
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