Grab acerveza , tear spread a new purse of chips , and kick back with these facts about your favorite bright green savory spread — in honour of National Guacamole Day .

1. AVOCADOS GO BACK THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

The avocado , first recognise as theahuacate , has beencultivatedand eaten in Mexico , Central America , and South America as far back as 500 BCE .

2. THE AZTECS INVENTED GUACAMOLE.

When the Spaniards arrived in the New World , theydiscoveredan Aztec sauce calledahuaca - molli;molliwas the Nahautl parole for “ something mashed or pureed , ” whileahuactlreferred to testicles , or the gem   fruit that reminded them of testicles .

3. AVOCADOS HAVE BEEN REBRANDED.

In the early 20thcentury , our favored mashable fruitwentby the unappealing name “ gator Pyrus communis , ” due to its jumpy green skin . The California Avocado Growers ’ Exchange , a trade group , complained in a 1927 financial statement “ That the avocado … should be called an alligator Pyrus communis is beyond all understanding . ” Alligator pear vanish , and the yield wascalledeverything fromcalavotobutter peartoavocado pearbeforeavocadofinally stuck .

4. THE AVOCADO HAS FAMOUS RELATIVES.

The avocado trade grouping alsobemoanedthe more quotidian   foods consociate with the avocado pear , “ an exalted member of the laurel family . ” Indeed , the avocado is a member of thelauracaefamily ,   which also includes bay farewell , cinnamon , camphor , and sassafras .

There are more than400varieties of avocado grow around the earth , but the Hass , grown mostly in Mexico and California , is the most popular . A postal worker named Rudolph Hasspurchasedthe seedling from a farmer in 1926 and filed apatentin 1935 . Theoriginaltree stood , and bore fruit , for nearly 70 years in La Habra Heights , California .

6. CALIFORNIA DOMINATES U.S. AVOCADO PRODUCTION.

The westerly stateaccountsfor nearly 90 per centum of all avocados grown in the United States , with the bulk of farmscenteredin a five - county realm of southerly California .

7. MEXICAN AVOCADOS WERE ONCE BANNED IN THE U.S.

Beginning in 1914 ,   Hass   avocado tree were notallowedto be import to the United States from Mexico . After a two - year debate , the USDA lifted the prohibition in 1997 — although approve farm were only permit to export their crops to 19 U.S. states and were still forestall from sell in California . In 2002 , the U.S. Federal   Hass   Avocado Promotion , Research , and Information Order wasestablished , and today Mexican aguacate are allowed in all 50 state .

8. THE BIGGEST GUACAMOLE SERVING EVER WEIGHED AS MUCH AS SOME ELEPHANTS.

A Guinness World Record wassetin 2013 when a group of 450 scholarly person in Tancitaro , Michoacan , Mexico organize a serving of guacamole that count 5,885.24 pounds , or almost 3 tons . Asian elephants can weigh anywhere from2.25 - 5.5 gross ton .

This article was originally write in 2016 .

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