Pinterest: Avocados revealed as the most pinned food trend on the website
This year, Pinterest recorded more than 500,000 food ideas posted as 'pins'
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Louise Thomas
Editor
It’s the darling fruit of celebrities, fashionistas and “wellness bloggers”. Now, avocado, rediscovered as the Instagram-friendly health food du jour, has been revealed as the most pinned food trend on the Pinterest social networking website.
Blame the actor Gwyneth Paltrow, who compared her gluten-free avocado toast to “your favourite pair of jeans – so reliable and easy and always just what you want.”
The mild-flavoured fruit has since inspired a hashtag, #avocadoobsession, accompanying Instagram photos depicting the latest confections created by hipster followers of the avocado boom.
This year, Pinterest recorded more than 500,000 food ideas posted as “pins”, a visual bookmark that helps people save creative ideas, on its website. The most pinned food ingredient by far was avocado, featuring in two of the top pins of 2015 – the avocado egg bake and avocado hummus.
Avocado advocates repeat the mantra that their favourite dish is high in fat – the right sort of health-promoting, monounsaturated fat. The easily spreadable nature of mashed avocado allows the most ham-fisted chef to add a little spice to breakfast, especially when topped with red pepper flakes.
Influential food wellness blogger Calgary Avansino has urged readers to offer guests “an avocado and cacao mousse” instead of mince pies at Christmas. Inevitably, the celebrity Kim Kardashian has her favourite green smoothie.
But reports that “peak avocado” had been reached were prompted by rumours that McDonald’s had tested a gourmet avocado breakfast offering in Australia, with the fruit featuring on sourdough bread, and was also flirting with avocado smash with crumbled feta.
There are even fears of an avocado shortage. In Mexico, the avocado trade has become linked with drug cartels, while in Chile the major avocado growers are reported to be draining the country’s ground-water and rivers.
A backlash may be stirring against avocado’s dominance. Avocado toast has been declared “the most annoying food on Instagram”. Pinterest also said its top UK search for 2015 was “pork pies”.
The good news for avocado eaters is the fruit’s fats provide nutrients, reduce bad cholesterol levels and are said to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. Popular recipes include avocado ice-cream toast, avocado soup with a seafood salsa and avocado baked with an egg and chorizo.
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