[1] Try guacamole with different garnishes. Here, pomegranate arils, cotija cheese, and diced avocado (photo © Avocados From Mexico).

[2] Chef Richard Sandoval’s signature Bacon Guacamole. Here’s the recipe (photo © Maya Restaurant | NYC.

[3] Your signature could be chunky guacamole: diced avocado instead of mashed. Here’s the recipe (photo © California Avocado Commission).

[4] Make your own guacamole seasoning blend. The recipe is in the *footnote.

Updated September 2026

Dating back to Aztec times, guacamole sauce was made from avocado, a local form of onion, chiles, fresh tomato, and salt—a recipe that’s still made today.

The ingredients were mashed in a molcajete (mol-cah-HET-tay), a Mexican pestle carved from volcanic stone, although today granite is an easier-to-clean option.

Different regions, using local ingredients, created thousands of variations.

You can add your own “signature” recipe to the list.

Below:

> The many approaches to guacamole.

> Create your own signature guacamole recipe.

> Fusion recipes: guacamole x international cuisines.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> Beyond Mexico: guacamole recipes with global influences.

> Beyond tortilla chips: more ways to serve guacamole.

> More about the Hass avocado.

> 18 ways to spice up guacamole.

> The history of guacamole.

> The history of the avocado.

> The history of tortilla chips.

> The year’s 7 avocado holidays.

> The year’s 25+ Mexican food holidays.

> 60 avocado recipes.

> Guacamole BLT crostini recipe.
 
 
1. THE MANY APPROACHES TO GUACAMOLE

The name of the dish comes from the Aztec language, Nahuatl: ahuacamolli (ah-waka-MOLE-ee), which literally translates to “avocado sauce” (ahuacatl is avocado, molli is sauce).

The Spanish conquistadors pronounced it huac-ah-MOE-leh.

The Aztecs likely used a basic recipe initially; but over time different regions of Mexico began mixing local ingredients, creating thousands of variations.

Today, the better Mexican restaurants often offer a tasting appetizer of three or four different recipes.

Go for it!

At Maya by Chef Richard Sandoval in New York City, Chef Sandoval offers regional variations that include:

• Traditional, made with avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and serrano chile
• Baja, with flavors from Baja California—kiwi, jicama, strawberry, mango, mint, arbol chile, lime and sea salt
• Norteno, with signature ingredients from the North—chicharrón (fried pork rinds), pickled onions, salsa fresca, Serrano ham, queso fresco, roasted corn, lime and sea salt
• Pacifico, with grilled beet, roasted walnut, queso fresco, diced orange, citrus chipotle salt and lime juice
• Sur, incorporating flavors from the South including grasshoppers (uh…fried grasshoppers are a popular snack in Mexico and you can buy them online), tomatillo, cotija cheese, onion, cascabel chile, cilantro, lime and sea salt.

 
 
 

[5] The ancient Mesoamericans used a molcajete carved from lava stone to mash and grind (photo © IMUSA).

Perhaps the best way to enjoy National Guacamole Day is to create your own signature recipe. To the mashed avocado, lime juice and salt, add any of the following.

Not all at once, of course!

• Tomato group: tomato, tomatillo, salsa, sundried tomatoes.
• Onion group: chives, onion, green onion/scallion, pickled onions, red onion, shallots.
• Heat: chili flakes, minced chiles, hot sauce.
• Cheese: blue cheese, cotija, queso fresco, grated Cheddar (try jalapeño Cheddar) or Jack.
• Creamy: crème fraîche, Greek yogurt, sour cream.
• Fruit: dried fruits, mango, melon, papaya, pomegranate arils, strawberry.
• Herbs: basil, cayenne, cilantro, mint, parsley, sage, tarragon.
• Vegetables: asparagus, bell pepper, corn, garlic cloves, jicama, radish/daikon.
• Wild card: bacon, crab meat, minced pork or ham, olives, toasted nuts.

 
 
3. FUSION GUACAMOLE RECIPES

Check out these fusion recipes from the California Avocado Commission, blending flavors from international cuisines with Mexican guac:

• Cajun Guacamole
• French Guacamole
• Greek Guacamole
• Italian Guacamole
• Japanese Guacamole

There are dozens of pages of guacamole recipes on the website.

Here’s a Cranberry Guacamole recipe for the holidays.
 

[6] Present this cranberry guacamole as your “signature guac” for the holidays (photo © California Avocado Commission).
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

There are different varieties of gooseberry, but our focus here is the cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana), also called the Peruvian groundcherry and the goldenberry, the uchuva (in Columbia) and fruta del amor (love fruit—in Peru).

It’s a close relative of the tamarillo and the tomatillo, as well as the tomato—all members of Solanacaea, the Nightshade* family. The genus originated in the Andes Mountains, in the area that is now Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.

The “cape” is a paper-thin green covering that dries to a tan or greenish ecru papery husk. The husk is left on for attractive garnishing and removed for cooking.

There are also capeless varieties, which are similar in taste but lack the delicate beauty of the cape.

Because of the scarcity and the cost, cape gooseberries are used sparingly, often as colorful garnishes on plates or cocktail glasses.
 
But these flavorful little fruits, looking like miniature cherry tomatoes, are eaten as berries or cooked into chutneys, compotes, desserts, jams and jellies, meat glazes, pies, purées, sauces, or garnishes for plates and beverages.

For a fancy dessert garnish, dip them in chocolate.

The berries need to be eaten when they are very ripe; otherwise, they can be tart.

But as part of your adventures in food, experiment. If they aren’t sweet enough, you can bathe them in sugar water, sprinkle them with sugar or cook them with added sugar.

> Take a look at the two recipes below: Poached Gooseberries and a versatile Gooseberry Butter Sauce.
 
 
HISTORY OF THE CAPE GOOSEBERRY

Thousands of years ago, Inca farmers high in the Andes cultivated the wild bounty that grew on their lands: sixty varieties of beans, cape gooseberries, cherimoya, dragon fruit, peanuts, potatoes, prickly pear, squash, tamarillo, tomatoes, and quinoa, among other crops.

The bright orange berry, also called the Aztec berry, golden berry, ground cherry, husk tomato, Inca berry, Peruvian cherry, and poha, grows at 7,500 to 10,000 feet. Traders brought them to Florida and Louisiana in the 1700s. Cajuns brought them to Quebec, where they are still cultivated.

They grow wild throughout a great part of the country They are cultivated in the U.S. and also grow wild here, having escaped their cultivated fields centuries ago. They are grown in Europe and as far away as Australia, which cans them for distribution to the rest of the world.
 
 
RECIPE #1: POACHED GOOSEBERRIES

Thanks to Andrew Faulkner of Melissas.com for this recipe.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the sugar and water, bring to a boil and boil for 8 to 10 minutes.

2. ADD the lemon and gooseberries and cook for 5 minutes, until the fruit is just cooked through (about 12 minutes in all).

3. COOL in the syrup. Serve as a topping for ice cream, or serve warm over sponge cake or angel cake with whipped cream.
 
 
RECIPE #2: GOOSEBERRY BUTTER SAUCE

This sauce, by Tom Fraker for Melissa’s Produce, can be served over squash, a white fish fillet, or as a dessert sauce.

Ingredients

[1] Cape gooseberries (photo © Rose Jones | Flickr).

[2] You can see why cape gooseberries in their husks make a lovely garnish (photo © Lucas George Wendt | Unsplash).

[3] Panna cotta with poached gooseberries. Here’s the recipe (photo © Cannelle Vanille).

[4] Antidote chocolate is made in Ecuador, home of gooseberries, which they add to chocolate (photo © Antidote Chocolate).

*Nightshades are members of the Solanaceae family of flowering plants, many of which are edible, while others are poisonous (some have both edible and toxic parts). The name of the family comes from the Latin solanum, “the nightshade plant.” Other edible members include capsicum (the chiles), Chinese lanterns, eggplants, garden huckleberry, ground cherry, naranjilla, pepinos, peppers, potatoes, and the tree tomato.

One thing that sets these nightshades apart is their alkaloid content. Alkaloids are harmful nitrogen compounds that, in high quantities, are toxic, causing nausea, diarrhea with vomiting, and headaches. In extreme cases, they lead to unconsciousness and convulsions to the point of respiratory paralysis. That’s why the tomato was considered poisonous by Europeans and not eaten for 200 years following its discovery. Alkaloids exist in tiny, non-harmful quantities in the nightshade foods we eat. Tobacco and the petunia are also members of the family, as well as the Datura or Jimson weed, the mandrake, and the deadly nightshade or belladonna.
 
 

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If you’re a fan of seared foie gras: Why pay a restaurant a $20 supplement for one little piece when you can buy an entire pound for $30.99 and sear it at home in a minute?

Our Top Pick Of The Week is bargain foie gras: $30.99 a pound for the trimmings of the lobe, called foie gras cubes. The whole lobe, or for pre-sliced scallops, is almost double that.

The cubes are available from foie gras specialist D’artagnan.

While foie gras may seem exotic, cooking it couldn’t be easier. Just season with salt and pepper and place in a hot pan for a minute. The biggest task is deciding how to serve it.

In general, sweet or sweet-and-sour items pair best with the richness of seared foie gras: