The Avocado: Genetics or Environment?

Hawaiian Avocado

I recently returned from Hawaii where we purchased our favorite Hawaiian foods (Mango, Papaya, Persian cucumbers, sweet onions, HUGE avocados) at the Farmer's Markets held each day in different locations around each island.  The market in Kapa'a on Kauai was a mob scene.  I romanticized that the avocados tasted creamier and were larger there just because they originated in Paradise.  I found out the variety grown most widely there, the Sharwil (grown for production and export in Kona but also by many people in their yards) originated from a volunteer plant on a farm in Australia in 1951 and was brought to Hawaii in 1966.  It is larger with a looser pit and thin green skin that doesn't get dark when ripe and actually stays fairly hard and leathery.  You can purchase these avocados on the mainland at various times of the year.  US consumers prefer the smaller, firmer Hass variety because they can tell it is ripe by the black skin.  Don't get in the same rut!!  The great reward for branching out is the incredible subtle and creamy flavor of this larger avocado.  We ate off of it for a week in salads and it stayed beautiful just like this, loose pit and all.