Hass avocados are the best known variety on sale because they are most recognisable and most common. The skin is shiny, quite knobbly and fairly tough when peeling the fruit. However, it is the colour change from green to black that most distinguishes the variety from others. The flesh is pale yellow with a creamy texture.
Ripening: Hass avocados need to soften before eating, and it is possible to detect this softening be gently pressing the skin. However, the knobbly peel of Hass also goes black as the fruit ripens, which is a good indicator: watch for full black, rather than black with mottled green.
Good Fruit Guide Rating: ****
Nutty, nutritious, black skin
Names: Hass
Origin: Hass is thought to have resulted as a chance seedling, but no one has ever proved the parent variety. It was discovered in the late 1920’s by Mr. Rudolph Hass, a postman, who had purchased seedling trees from A. R. Rideout of Whittier, California. Rudolph Hass and H. H. Brokaw, also of Whittier, were responsible for early development of the variety.
Grown in: Israel, Spain, Morocco; California, Mexico; Columbia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina; Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique; Australia
Harvest & Availability: As avocados can be left hanging on the tree for extensive periods without triggering ripening, seasons tend to over-lap tremendously. Main sources (+ supplementary sources) for supply to UK are as follows:
- January: Israel, Spain (+CO+MX+CL+DO)
- February: Israel, Spain (+CO+MX+CL+DO+MA)
- March: Israel, Spain (+CO+MX+CL+MA+US+PE)
- April: Israel, Spain, Peru (+CO+MA+MZ)
- May: Peru, South Africa (+ZW+KE+CO+BR+CL+ES+IL)
- June: Peru, South Africa (+ZW+KE+CO)
- July: South Africa, Peru (+CO+ZW+KE)
- August: South Africa, Peru (+KE+CO)
- September: South Africa, Peru, Kenya (+CO+DO)
- October: South Africa, Peru, Chile (+MX+KE+DO)
- November: Peru, Chile (+AR+DO+MX+ZA)
- December: Chile, Columbia (+PE+MX+ES+AR+DO+ZA)
Websites:
UCAVO – A Short History of the Hass Avocado
