‘Guacamole in a Tube’ From Chile

Question: What can you tell me about the miniature avocados I’m seeing in the markets?

Answer: The seedless Fuerte miniature (also called cocktail) avocados are being imported from Chile. They should be available until the first or second week of October.

“Cocktail avocados grow on the same tree as the larger Fuertes,” according to Frieda Kaplan of Frieda of California. “The only difference is that the blossom of the cocktail wasn’t pollinated, so it never developed a seed. As they ripen, you can squeeze them like you do a tube of toothpaste and out pops fully edible fruit with no waste--guacamole in a tube.”

Q: I’ve been canning my preserves using the inversion method for the past couple years. Now I hear that technique is no longer recommended. Is this true?

A: Yes. Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Ball Corp. no longer recommend using the inversion technique for canning jams and jellies.

Research done by the USDA showed the low-vacuum seal produced when the inversion method was used did not completely prevent mold growth.

Both the USDA and Ball Corp. recommend that jams and jellies be processed five minutes in a boiling water bath to assure they are properly sealed and all mold or yeast has been destroyed.

Q: A question in the July 20 “You Asked About . . .” column brought the following response from a reader:

“(Your column stated:) ‘I am a vegetarian; therefore, I eat a lot of cheese. . . .’ My first response was, well, if you’re a vegetarian, you shouldn’t be eating cheese, an animal product. I also get a real kick out of so-called vegetarians who also eat fish and poultry. I think you should correct that individual’s deductive reasoning to something like, ‘I am a vegetarian; therefore, I eat no cheese.’ ”

A: Not according to “Nutrition--Concepts & Controversies,” Fourth Edition, (West Publishing Co., 1988: $39.10) by Eva May Nunnelley Hamilton, Eleanor Noss Whitney and Francis Sienkiewicz Sizer. In discussing vegetarian diets they write: “The food in these diets may be East Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, or other, but most of the diets have distinctly American--and modern--characteristics. They are varied. People who call themselves vegetarians may eat no foods of animal origin at all (vegan), may eat foods that come from animals, such as milk and eggs but not meat (lacto-ovo vegetarians), or may abide by other rules, such as eating fish, or fish and poultry, but not red meat.”