Bobby Flay's Guacamole Hot Take Is Truly Polarizing
Bobby Flay is one of the best-known celebrity chefs in the world, and he's no stranger to going viral and making headlines for all the wrong reasons. It's fitting, then, that a TikTok video from around the time of Super Bowl LVIII, featuring his recipe for guacamole, truly divided the nation (or at least his comments section). "You see this right here," he said, holding up a little tomato. "I love plum tomatoes." Then he continued, without missing a beat, "It does not belong in guacamole." He went on to say that adding tomato creates a muddled, mealy texture (Flay's recipe calls for just five ingredients: avocado, green chilies — jalapenos or serranos, your choice — cilantro, red onion, and fresh lime; it's not all that different from Chipotle's guacamole recipe).
@bobby_flay_ 5-ingredient guacamole... NO tomatoes! #SuperBowl #fyp #Guacamole #Recipe
Truly brave words. While many commenters on the video agreed with him, some dissented, and they had explanations. User swampjelly said, "I don't put a pasty tomato in there either, but a few cherry tomatoes chock full of natural MSG make any guac better!" User mchp23 responded to the video with a little geographic distinction, saying, "Down here in Texas we put tomatoes in the guac!!!"
Where other celebrity chefs stand on the tomatoes in guacamole debate
While the commenters were divided on the presence of the ruby red fruit (for so it is) in their guacamole, you can bet other celebrity chefs have picked sides, as well. For example, Mexican chef and star of Pati's Mexican Table on PBS, Pati Jinich, shared three guacamole recipes with The Today Show and none of them contained tomato. Chef Curtis Stone actually commented to Business Insider on whether or not tomatoes belong in guac, saying they make the green dip "a funny color," and that he prefers the brightness of the avocados without tomatoes.
On the pro-tomatoes side, however, one of Chef Alton Brown's recipes calls for 2 diced Roma tomatoes in his guac and Alex Guarnaschelli's for an entire beefsteak tomato. Rick Bayless, a chef and restaurateur who specializes in Mexican cuisine, adds a little less than a full cup of ripe tomato, remarking that the tomato pieces add sweetness into the mix.
What other items may not belong in guacamole?
The internet is a heated place to be, and aside from tomatoes, people have some strong opinions about what does and does not belong in guacamole, one of the world's most popular condiments. While we can all agree that squash doesn't belong in guac, the two main controversies revolve around sour cream and lime. Now, sour cream is added to guac in order to give it a creamier, smoother texture (as well as a tangier flavor). But guacamole purists would argue that the white condiment does not belong, and adding it turns the guac into more of an avocado dip.
The real shocker, though, is lime. What was once considered an inherent ingredient in guacamole is now being cast out of the green party dip, because it supposedly covers up the actual flavor of the avocados. And for those who claim that they add it because it keeps the avocados from oxidizing, the actual amount of lime juice necessary to prevent that process is apparently a lot — so much that it would completely change how the guac tastes.