Avocados are used not only in salads and the ever popular guacamole, but also in breads, desserts and main dishes.

The fruit is harvested from tall trees, which grow in groves. The rich, pale yellow-green flesh of the pear-shaped fruit has a texture likened to a firm ripe banana, smooth and buttery, with a faintly nutty flavor.

Avocados are also known as the 'alligator pear'.