Let’s Talk Guac

Jul 15 2022

Fun fact: July 31st is National Avacado Day! If you were ever looking for an excuse to dig in to some delicious guacamole, that is the day to do it. Not that you need an excuse to eat guacamole. But when you’re out with your friends and family looking for Mexican restaurants in Merrimack someone inevitably asks, “How’s their guac?” Well, at Don Ramon, we can tell you that our guac is pretty great. But don’t take our word for it, come find out for yourself!

Before you come to your favorite Mexican restaurants in Merrimack, let’s look at how guacamole became the staple of Mexican cuisine that it is today.

It goes back 500 years.

Actually, guacamole is probably much older than that, but the earliest record we have of it is from the 1500s. When the Spaniards came to Mexico and Central America they discovered avocados and the delicious mixture the Aztecs made with them. The Aztecs called this food ahuacamolli, but the Spaniards couldn’t pronounce it correctly, so the word soon morphed into “guacamole.” What we think of as traditional additions to guacamole are actually Spanish. Before the Spaniards arrived, the Aztecs had already started adding tomatoes and chilis to their mashed avocado. Once the Spanish explorers tried guacamole and fell in love with it, they added their own ingredients. Onions, cilantro, and lime juice are common ingredients in guacamole now, but we have the Spanish to thank for adding them to our guac.

It took a long time to take off in North America.

Because guacamole is so delicious and popular in Mexico and Central America, you’d think that it would have quickly taken off in the United States. To the surprise of some younger guac-lovers, guacamole was pretty rare in the US for most of the 20th century. So what kept guacamole from Americans for so long? It was a ban on importing Mexican avocados that was in effect from 1914 until 1997. Once the US lifted that ban, avocados and guacamole became a popular addition to Mexican food all over the country. The US Hispanic and Latino population also grew by 14 million people between 1990 and 2000, and they all brought their appreciation for their traditional foods and recipes with them.

Grab some guac at your favorite Mexican restaurants in Merrimack!

There’s no wrong time to eat guacamole, but National Avocado Day is certainly a good day for it! And everyone knows that the best way to eat guacamole is with some delicious food from your favorite Mexican restaurants in Merrimack. And of course, the best place to go is Don Ramon.