Pineapple Margaritas + Guacamole

Cinco de Mayo

Friday May 5th is Cinco de Mayo. A day that has evolved into a fiesta of Mexican culture, food, music and drink. Many believe this day is a celebration of Mexico’s independence….and they would be wrong. That date is actually September 16th and that happened back in 1821! What Cinco de Mayo really celebrates is the Mexican armies victory at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 against an invading French army. Now why was Mexico at war with France? Well, apparently the Mexican government had defaluted on its foreign debt to several European countries (including France, England and Spain) and it was the French who came to collect. Not only did they attempt to gain repayment, the French went further by trying to install a relative of then president Napoleon III, by creating a second Mexican Empire under France. The Battle of Puebla wa a huge victory. The French had twice as many soldiers as the Mexican army. When all was said and done the Mexican army was victorious while the French army suffered 5 times the number of casualties.

We are all for the underdog and will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year with a classic combo. Margaritas & Guacamole. Now our Margarita has a bit of a twist. We have been back on  a bit of a fermenting kick and have been brewing up some seriously delicious pineapple kombucha. For those who booch, you have got to try this combo. We add fresh pureed pineapple in with our kombucha tea and then strain off all the pulp before starting the second fermentation. If you like a bubbly booch then you’re in luck. We’ve been finding a good amount of fizz by day 3. A word of warning, you may want to ‘burp’ your bottles so they don’t get too explosive. We like this contradiction of flavours, tart and tangy yet fruity and sweet but you can certainly whip up a batch of margaritas with pineapple juice instead.

Our guacamole is a whole other beast. We are purists. Guacamole should be deliciously creamy with some chunks of avocado for texture. There should be a balance of garlic and lime, a burst of cilantro and just enough salt to bring out all the other flavours. Guacamole should be simple. We feel no need to up our guac game by adding embellishments or riffs (we’re looking at you bacon and kale – stay out of our guac!) Furthermore, guac should take less than 10 minutes

 

Pineapple Margaritas

Makes 2 cocktails but can easily be doubled to make a batch or punch.We used pineapple kombucha for our cocktail but fresh pineapple juice would be a great alternative. You may want to up the lime.

 

1. Rim your cocktail glasses with coarse salt or sugar. We found a lovely palm sugar that was infused with dried orange and hibiscus flowers and used it. We like the hit of salt so we added a bit of that to our sugar too.
2. Add a few ice cubes to both glasses.
3. In a cocktail shaker, combine the lime juice, tequila, triple sec and three ice cubes.
4. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is cold to the touch.
5. Strain into the prepared glasses.
6. Top both with pineapple kombucha or pineapple juice.
7. Garnish with lime wedges or pineapple slices.
8. You can make a punch version by combining 4 times the amount of lime juice, tequila and triple sec in a large pitcher. Stir well and then refrigerate until ready to serve. Add the pineapple kombucha or pineapple juice and additional ice before serving. Have lime wedges, pineapple slices and coarse salt or infused sugar available for people to garnish their own glasses.

Classic Guacamole – It’s Guac o’clock!

For the creamiest guacamole, you want to make sure to use just ripe avocados. They are perfectly ripe when you can press in a bit with your thumb and it leaves an imprint….just remember that this imprint will then leave a black mark or bruise so be kind when shopping for avocados and go by the darkened colour instead. If you simply must squeeze them then press your thumb gently into the stem end. The other shoppers will thank you for it!

 

 

1. Using a mortar and pestle (or a fork), mash the avocado with the garlic and lime juice. We like ours with a bit of a chunky texture.
2. Fold in the cilantro and red onion.
3. Season with salt to taste but keep in mind what your serving your guac with – we fried up some tortilla chips and seasoned those with chile powder and kosher salt
4. We suggest eating it immediately but if you’re making this ahead of time then cover your guac with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent air from oxidizing.