Momma Mitzy’s Guacamole

This post was originally written as a paper during my senior year of college. For years I’ve had it saved and decided it was the perfect time to bring it back, with some slight modifications since it’s now been nearly 10 years since I wrote it. This one’s for you, mami. ¡Te amo!

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“Suavemente bésame, que quiero sentir tus labios besándome otra vez.” My dad’s favorite salsa tune sang as it rang around our little Georgia home. Within two seconds he made it into our sunflower-yellow kitchen, swooped my mom away from her cooking utensils and persuaded her to dance with him. As my dad sang to the tune, and my mom’s laughter trailed alongside him, the smell of freshly cooked and perfectly salted potatoes paired with fresh guacamole filled the air. I was ready, more than ready actually, for lunch.

For as long as I can remember, guacamole has been a part of my life. From birthdays to lazy family Saturdays and even holidays, my mom’s guacamole has been a family member that has kept us all together. Making the guacamole, which we’ll get to in a second, is much more than just putting together several ingredients. To truly understand what makes it so special, you have to meet its maker, Momma Mitzy.

With wild and curly dark brown hair, a soft voice, and a grand laugh, Momma Mitzy, my mom, is unlike any other individual. As the third of four children born in Colombia, South America, my mother graduated from college with a degree in fashion design but with the dream of being a full-time mom. And a full-time mom she most certainly has been. With five children and their spouses, four grandchildren, and a husband who sometimes counts as an additional child, my mom’s life has been surrounded by laughter, glee-filled screams, and conversations that fill the kitchen and dining room table for hours. 

But here’s the thing about my mom and her cooking: she refuses to use measuring cups and exact measurements when whipping up one of her many creations. I grew up watching my mother use the palm of her hand to measure the perfect amount of salt needed for a recipe or a shrug and toss when putting a handful of cilantro in a pot because it felt right (and it always was). That’s what makes capturing the essence of her famous guacamole so fun. 

¡¡Es tiempo para comer!! These were the key words that filled the house with the pitter-patter of feet, running from the different ends of the house to the dining room, where everyone would claim their unofficially assigned seats. My mom would bring our plates one at a time, filling the room with a choir of our grumbling stomachs. Our long-awaited meal was finally here and in it her guacamole.

So, what makes this recipe so unlike the pre-packaged ones found in the grocery store? First off, it’s the ingredients used: one lime (squeezed for juice), a bunch of cilantro (1/4 of a cup), scallions (1 bunch, finely chopped), one Roma tomato (finely chopped), salt (1 teaspoon and a bit more if desired), and three avocados, three very glorious and ripe avocados.

A word of advice from Momma Mitzy: “You have to get avocados that are soft. They can’t be too stiff or else the consistency of the guacamole won’t work.”

With the perfect avocados comes the foundation for learning to make the guacamole my taste buds desire on a daily basis. Using of a knife, Momma Mitzy cuts open the avocados, dices and places them into a bowl, and using a fork, mashes it enough to make it dip-like while still leaving it chunky.

Another word of advice from Momma Mitzy: “I leave one of the avocado pits in the bowl with the guacamole because it keeps it from getting black — at least that’s what I’ve heard people say.”

The non-humorous part of the rumor? It actually works.

With the guacamole off to a good start, one would assume that the rest is easy, with the last step being to throw in the rest of the ingredients. That, however, is not the case. Momma Mitzy has a very specific order in which her ingredients are placed into the bowl.

“First the lime and salt, then the cilantro, followed by the scallion, and tomato,” Momma Mitzy said. “There’s a very specific order.”

In regards to measurements, however, no such thing exists in my mother’s life (which is why I’ve provided rough estimates for readers above).

“I squeeze the lime to get all its juice in the guacamole and keep it green longer and then add salt for taste,” Momma Mitzy continued. “I love to bring joy to my family so I always add in a little more salt for flavor – I don’t really measure anything out – it depends on your own taste and how salty you want it, but if you really need a measurement, I think it’s somewhere around a teaspoon of salt.”

Once the lime and salt have been added, Momma Mitzy then mixes in the cilantro, scallion, and Roma tomato – all in that specific order.

Once those ingredients are added in, they’re mixed in with a fork, helping keep the guacamole chunky. And there you have it, Momma Mitzy’s guacamole is complete and ready to be eaten.

While her recipe originally came from watching her own mother, my Mama Alicia, making it, my mom has made it her own by pairing it with salty boiled potatoes that she cuts open and tops with a large spoonful of her guacamole. With all of us around the table, the bowl is left empty in a matter of seconds, literally.

“It’s a feast or everyone,” Momma Mitzy says with a smile. “The smells, the love, the preparation for it and knowing I get to see my family’s happy faces. It’s the best thing ever knowing that you’re all going to enjoy it in such a delightful way.”

Looking for just the recipe? I’ve narrowed it down for you here:

Until next week, friends!