A toast to the avocado

By Tom Harte

The Academy Award-winning actress, socialite and now lifestyle guru Gwyneth Paltrow has come in for a lot of ribbing lately. Not long after the launch of her web site, Goop, which offers, among other things, a coffee enema device and wearable stickers that purportedly re-balance the body's energy frequency, The New York Times reported that parodying it had become a national pastime. Stephen Colbert has been the most merciless, devoting several segments on his late-night show to spoofing Paltrow and her products.

Say what you will about Paltrow, however, she deserves our gratitude for popularizing one of today's trendiest foods: avocado toast. Dubbed the ultimate cosmopolitan food, it has been described as "piously nutritious, oddly addictive, and invariably overpriced," just the sort of thing Paltrow would find appealing.

When she put a recipe for it in a cookbook of hers a few years ago it became a phenomenon, especially in California, though it's a coast-to-coast happening now. For example, on the streets of New York, kiosks selling it vie with the hot dog stands. Avocado toast is now a million-dollar-a-month industry with some high-end places selling it for 20 dollars a pop.

The subject of over half a million Instagram posts and innumerable pins on Pinterest, avocado toast is little more than an open-faced mashed avocado sandwich, though Sqirl, an eatery in Los Angeles, makes it with 22 ingredients. Whether gussied up or basic, it is just another food fad that, according to trend-spotting food writer David Sax, mirrors what's happening in society at a given time. For example, the cupcake craze of years ago reflected our desire for childhood comfort food in the wake of 9/11. Similarly, avocado toast may be a sign of today's increasing obsession with food, even something as seemingly mundane as toast.

Avocado toast, despite its current elevated status as a trendy food, essentially consists of only two ingredients: ripe avocados and crusty bread.TOM HARTE

Though Paltrow usually gets the credit for helping avocado toast catch on, who invented the dish is not quite so clear. There's more than one origin story. For example, Bill Granger, a restaurateur in Australia (where they like to put things on toast with a penchant that, considering Vegemite, apparently has no bounds), is often cited as the first person to serve avocado toast, at his eponymous Bills in Sydney in 1993. He might even be responsible for publishing the first recipe for the concoction, in his first cookbook in 1999, though it didn't get the attention that Paltrow's did.

Not everyone agrees, however, that avocado toast is an Australian invention. California, where people grow avocados in their back yards, also claims to have originated the dish, and there is some evidence to back up the claim. References to slathering bread or toast with mashed avocado can be found in California newspapers dating back to 1885.

But in all probability it was in Mexico, the birthplace of the avocado, where the idea of spreading the fruit of one on toast first occurred. That would have been way back in the 1500s when the Spaniards brought bread to Mexico, or, if you count the tortilla in the category of bread, something like 10,000 years ago.

But whatever the case, there's no denying that avocado toast is the best thing since, well, you know.

Avocado Toast

The avocado toast served at Home Restaurant, a popular Los Angeles location for trendy foods.TOM HARTE

Avocado toast is not difficult to make. After all, there are essentially only two ingredients. Still, there are important toast pointers to consider: use avocados that are ripe, but not overly so; use only thick slices of crusty whole grain bread; and mash your avocados. Sliced ones are pretty, but not as creamy. This basic recipe adapted from Annie Reeves (anniereeves.com) does all of these. I've suggested some variations as well.

• 1 just ripe avocado
• 2 slices crusty whole grain bread, toasted
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• pinch of chili flakes

Scoop out avocado and mash with lemon juice and half the olive oil, until chunky but not completely smooth. Stir in salt and cayenne pepper. Spread on toast slices, drizzle with remaining olive oil, and sprinkle with chili flakes.

Variations: top avocado with a mixture of corn, jalapenos, and cilantro; or smoked salmon and cucumber; or crumbled bacon; or mozzarella cheese and cherry tomatoes; or poached or scrambled egg.