Avocados I love avocado. Always have. And I am very happy that my kids love avocado as well. I love avocado, but do you know what I do not like? Waste, clutter and buying products that only fit one specific purpose (well, that is a kind of waste).

A few weeks ago, I spent a week running workshops at a conference in the north of the country. The conference organizers booked for me into a serviced apartment, because they thought I would be more comfortable making my own food. Since I worked most of the day, I hardly had time to cook for myself, but in the evening and at night, when I felt hungry, I could make myself simple, yet tasty, things to eat.

When I checked what was in the apartment’s kitchen drawers and the cupboards, it hit me that everything was so organized. I compared it to my own kitchen cupboards and drawers. Ouch! That hurt!

No, they did not have all the utensils I had at home, but I could manage with everything just fine.

Has it ever happened to you that you stayed in a serviced apartment or holiday unit and thought, “Oh, I wish my kitchen looked like this”? Well, it happens to me every time. Do you know why we do not have kitchens that look like serviced apartment kitchens, with clean, spacious cupboards?

Because we buy a different utensil for every use.

If you check the shops, there is a peeler for everything – a peeler for oranges, a peeler for apples, a peeler for tomatoes (why would you need to peel the skin of tomatoes?), a pineapple peeler and, the one that annoys me the most, an avocado peeler.

I have seen many versions of the avocado peeler and yes, it looks beautiful and the slices come out perfectly even, but can you imagine how full your drawer would be if you had a different peeler for everything?

My mom, who is a retired old-school chef, taught me a simple, ancient technique to peel an avocado and take the seed out without squashing the avocado. Using her method does not require you to buy any new product and fill up your kitchen with so many utensils that it takes you longer to search for the right one than to use it.

My mom uses only…

A simple knife and a simple spoon.

How to peel avocado

No need to buy anything that will clutter your kitchen drawers and cost you money:

Cut the avocado in half on the long side.
Hold the half with the seed in one hand. With the other hand, hit the seed with the blade of the knife. The knife will stick to the seed. Lift it (you may need to shake it a bit) and throw it away.
Using the knife, slice the avocado.
Take a spoon and scoop the avocado out of its shell.
Slice and scoop out the other half.