50 and beyond

What is your experience buying avocados like?

Avocados on display in supermarkets are almost always hard and unripe. There are seldom any perfectly ripe avocados on sale. Little Farms and M&S do have them but they are expensive and require an out-of-the-way expedition to purchase them.

This is how the cycle of avocados work for me. I buy about six to eight at a time, depending on how supermarket bundles them for sale. Then begins the waiting period. They take about four to five days to ripen. Also, just as they start ripening, I must immediately replenish stock because the next batch will also need four to five days to ripen. This creates a fragile avocado supply chain. If everything works perfectly, I get to eat one avocado a day, with some to share with family on some days.

Sometimes, this cycle collapses. The supermarket may suddenly stops selling avocados for one or two weeks. At other times, the batch I buy never ripens or turn brown and veiny and are not fit to eat. They have to go straight to the bin. It gets frustrating at times because it can happen regularly. There are weeks where I give up and stop buying avos because every recent batch is bad. I feel upset when I have throw them away because avos are not cheap and I buy several at one go.

The recent batch of the Shepherd variety that arrived in Singapore are rather good. There have been only a few bad avocados this season. But happiness is temporary. This shipment will soon run dry. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? For now, I will enjoy bliss for a few minutes each day while I savour them.