From ice cream to moisturizer, it's a whole new world for avocados

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer | Sunday, April 22, 2007 12:23 AM PDT ∞

FALLBROOK -- The green fruit being celebrated today up and down Main Avenue has been a standby in some of the town's favorite dishes, but newer uses may be gaining ground, such as a face cream made with avocado or an ice cream flavored with the buttery fruit.

Get your guac on at the Avocado Festival Sunday

As Fallbrook prepared for today's Avocado Festival, local business leaders and residents who grow and use the "green gold" said the popular crop's universe is expanding.

The new uses are more interesting than outrageous, said Bob Leonard, executive director of the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce. "I haven't heard of anybody recycling the skins into floor mats or anything else," he laughed.

But, he said, the avocado is cropping up as an ingredient in more and more products.

Ice cream

It has been attempted before, but the latest incarnation of avocado ice cream may be the best, its inventors said last week.

The Fallbrook Cold Stone Creamery franchise, owned by Fallbrook residents John Maurer and Maria DiBacco, spent three weeks developing the new recipe, which includes fresh, locally grown avocados, sweet cream and lime juice.

"We did about five different passes at the recipe. By the time we got the fifth recipe down, we really liked it," Maurer said Thursday morning, as he poured a batch into a mixer.

The store was busy this week preparing 1,200 servings of the avocado flavor for today's festival, which will be sold at the Cold Stone booth just south of Elder Street, he said.

The finished product -- which has been available at the store for a few weeks now -- is pistachio green in color.

Unlike previous attempts at avocado ice cream -- pegged as more of a sorbet by former tasters -- the Cold Stone variation is very creamy, preserving the buttery flavor of the avocado and adding a hint of citrus.

Overall, it is a pleasant treat, and a definite departure from the standard ice cream flavors.

Cold Stone headquarters in Arizona helped the local franchise with the basics of the recipe, and Maurer and DiBacco, then the staff and the downtown shop fine-tuned it.

According to Maurer, the hard part was getting the amount of lime juice just right.

"We wanted it to have a hint of citrus, but we didn't want it to be overbearing," he said.

And how have the customers reacted?

"They actually are very surprised," Maurer said. "People always think of avocados as having that weird texture. They're a little afraid to taste it at first, but once they sample it ..."

He didn't finish the sentence, instead smiling and saying that he and DiBacco are happy to have created a flavor unique to Fallbrook.

"You can't get avocado ice cream anywhere but Fallbrook right now."

Dog food

A commercial dog food called "AvoDerm," which advertises a recipe for "meat sensitive dogs," boasts the green fruit as its key ingredient.

Made by Irwindale-based Breeder's Choice, the dog food is especially good for canines because it is rich in nutrients and antioxidants, according to the company's Web site.

Phil Abreo, a spokesman for Breeder's Choice, said the company has been selling AvoDerm for 20 years, and that many customers are loyal to the brand because it enhances the appearance of their pets' coats.

"One of the main indicators for pet owners, in terms of their dog's health, is the coat -- how does the coat look? We've seen a good correlation between avocados and a dog's skin and coat, and their overall health," Abreo said.

He said the company uses the "meat" of avocados, no pits or skins.

"It is an expensive ingredient for dog food, and it's a unique ingredient, but we feel it's definitely worth it," Abreo said.

Bob Lucy, a kind of de-facto ambassador for the fruit who owns the Del Rey Avocado packing plant in Fallbrook, said Wednesday that his two dogs have beautiful shiny coats from eating avocados.

"They're fattening for dogs, but they're wonderful for their coats," he said of the green fruit. "Our two black Labs are absolutely gorgeous because they eat three or four a day out of our grove."

Cosmetics

While Lucy's packinghouse specifically caters to the food-service industry, he said he has noticed a rash of commercials lately advertising a shampoo made with avocados.

That's not surprising, considering that avocados are rich in vitamins and monounsaturated fats, which improve the appearance of hair.

A quick Internet search revealed several other cosmetic products use avocados, including lip glosses, lotions and soaps.

One Web site, www.make-upusa.com, lists the benefits of avocado oil as a cosmetic ingredient: Rich in vitamins A and D, it is highly moisturizing and useful for treating certain rashes, eczema and parched and aging skin, the Web site states.

At La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, the avocado is a featured ingredient in one popular treatment. The resort offers an "Avocado Stone Body Polish," a 25-minute treatment involving ground-up avocado "stones," or pits, in an exfoliating cream.

Food, of course

Even within the food service industry, the uses of avocado are expanding, Lucy said.

They are now incorporated into every meal -- omelettes in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and all sorts of dishes in the evening, he pointed out.

"You see avocados in more and more recipes than before," Lucy said. "People are using avocados in so many different ways now -- it's not just guacamole anymore. It has really become a staple, as a garnish."

He said there were more than a billion pounds of avocados sold in the United States last year, the majority of which were grown in California and sold to become ingredients in food.

"We're selling more (avocados) to food services than ever before," he said.

-- Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.

Quick facts:

- A single tree can produce as many as 500 avocados (200 pounds) a year, but the average is 150 (60 pounds).

- There are about 7,000 avocado groves in California.

- Original Aztec word for avocado: "Ahuacatl."

- Avocados contain 25 nutrients, no sodium, and very little saturated fat.

Sources: www.avocado.org.

FESTIVAL FACTS

WHAT: 21st annual Avocado Festival

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today

WHERE: along several blocks of Main Avenue in downtown Fallbrook

PARKING: Free parking and shuttle service available at Fallbrook High School, 2400 South Stage Coach Lane; smaller parking area at Fallbrook Community Airpark, 2141 South Mission Road.

ATTRACTIONS: 350 booths, music, food and everything avocado

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

STARTING AT 9 A.M.

-- Festival begins

-- Entertainment -- Kids' area on Ivy and Main St.

-- Sheriff's Substation opens on Alvarado, 388 E. Alvarado

-- CHP, Radio Club, Lost & Found opens, Wells Fargo Parking Lot

-- Agriculture Center opens on Alvarado

-- Paradise Chevrolet, Cadillac display, 414 S. Main

-- Saturn Dealers on Fig Street

-- Casino Pauma in Inland Empire Lot

-- Gem & Mineral Society Museum opens, 123 W. Alvarado

-- Avo Emporium opens -- Festival items on sale, Main and Alvarado

-- Professional & Amateur Culinary Contests, 330 S. Main

-- Saturn Dealers on Fig Street

-- Casino Pauma In Inland Empire Bank Parking Lot

STARTING AT 10 A.M.

-- South Refreshment Area opens, Scrappy's

-- North Refreshment Area opens, Hawthorn and Main

-- Culinary demonstrations, 330 S. Main

-- Community Stage opens, Main and Ivy

-- Historical Society Museum opens, 260 RockyCrest Road

-- Shuttle service from Fallbrook High School to festival venues

STARTING AT 11 A.M.

-- Entertainment at North Refreshment Area, "Blue Zone"

-- Entertainment at South Refreshment Area, "Avocado Moon Band"

-- Vintage Aircraft Display, Fallbrook Airpark

-- Avo 500 Race for elementary schoolchildren, Ivy & Main

AT 12:05 P.M.

-- "Best Decorated Avocado" contest, at Ivy and Main

4:30 P.M.

-- Refreshment areas close

5 P.M.

-- Festival ends

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.