Es Alpokat

One of my favorite things in the world is es alpokat (avocado shakes). It transports me to days gone by in Indonesia. There's not a blender or magic bullet at work, so I couldn't make myself some today for lunch, but what is a girl to do when she just bought a bag of avocados from Costco? So, I just basically poured chocolate syrup on the avocado and had it for my dessert. I've had the avocado in the fridge, so it was nicely chilled and with the chocolate syrup it was not unlike eating a creamy ice cream.

I'm picturing some of you cringing in disgust as you're reading this post, just as some of my co-workers did today. BUT when a few of them tasted the combination, they were pleasantly surprised and said that they would probably eat it again that way.

Okay, with that, how do you make an avocado shake? In Indonesia they use avocado, ice, condensed milk/cream/evaporated milk, palm sugar, a squeeze of lime/lemon juice and blend. I have no set recipe and who would have palm sugar handy in their homes, so my recipe is simplified and it's something like this: a whole ripe avocado in my trustee magic bullet, a couple of ice cubes, some milk, some chocolate syrup (optional), and whir away, add a wee bit more chocolate syrup to make some pretty design in your glass and enjoy the smooth, creamy concoction. Ahhh ...