Recipe: Venezuelan Guasacaca

This is my own version of the Venezuelan Guasacaca, which I created by modifying my mom’s recipe a bit more to my liking.   I don’t follow my own recipe every time, because I usually eyeball all the ingredients, or what we Venezuelans call “al ojo porciento”.   I usually put like double the amount of avocadoes, because well… I love avocados.   For this reason my Guasacaca never tastes the same, but every one seems to always love it.   I think the thing that makes or breaks a Guasacaca is the freshness of the ingredients.   I usually buy all the ingredients the same day or the day before I have to make it.   I also make it right before all the guests arrive… and sometimes even while the guests are arriving or already there (in true Venezuelan fashion… late).   I like getting the ingredients at a place where I know they have the freshest produce, like Whole Foods, Earth Fare, the Fresh Market and sometimes Publix.   However, you do take the risk of not finding perfectly ripe avocadoes the same day or the day before you are making your Guasacaca.   I guess you would have to know your local supermarkets very well.

Venezuelan Guasacaca Ingredients

Ingredients

4 whole large avocados
1 whole onion
1 whole bell pepper, you can mix yellow, red and green
2 sticks green onion, thinly sliced
2 whole tomatoes
1 handful of cilantro, thinly sliced
1-tablespoon vinegar
3-tablespoons olive oil, extra virgin
1-tablespoon salt
½-tablespoon pepper
1-tablespoon limejuice

Preparation

1. Cut ½ of one of the avocados in small squares and mix it in a bowl with the onion, bell peppers, green onion, tomatoes, parsley, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
2. Using an electrical blender or food processor, puree the other avocados including half a cup of the previous mix and then add all the mix in the blender on to the remaining mix in the bowl.
3. Use the remaining 1/4 of the first avocado to cut in slices and decorate. You can include small squares of tomatoes for decoration and one or two leafs of parsley also.

Venezuelan Guasacaca

Tips

-You can use the avocado seeds and place them inside the Guasacaca once served to help keep it fresh (I have yet to test this theory).
– In order to buy the perfect avocados just press the thinnest part of the avocado (what I would call the top) with your thumb and it should feel soft, but not too soft.
– Sometimes I puree half of all the ingredients and thinly chop the other half, and then mix them all together.   That way you have all the flavors of all the ingredients in the pureed mix and also all the colors and slices in the diced part of the mix.
– Always add more olive oil and less vinegar.   If you add too much vinegar it will taste too strong.
– Don’t store the avocados in the fridge, because they will turn black pretty quickly.
– If you think the avocados won’t be ready by the time you need them… they say you can wrap them in newspaper and they will ripen quickly (and by “they”… I mean my mom).

A more Traditional Guasacaca Recipe:

– 1 large avocado
– 2 large onions, thinly chopped
– 2 green bell peppers, thinly chopped
– 4 green onion sticks, thinly chopped
– ½ cup of vinegar
– ½ cup of olive oil
– 1-teaspoon salt
– 1-teaspoon pepper
– 1 sprig of parsley, thinly chopped
– The entire juice of one lime

Preparation

You use only half of the avocado and dice it up in little cubes, then mix it with the rest of the thinly chopped ingredients like the onion, bell peppers, green onion, and parsley.   Then add all the other ingredients like the vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and limejuice. Then take the remaining avocado and blend it or process it, along with 3 tablespoons of the previous mix.   Finally, combine everything together.   You can garnish with a little bit of diced tomatoes on top.

Check out Venezuelan born Chef George Duran’s own Guasacaca Recipe and Video

¡Buen Provecho!