I've been known to halve two avocados and just eat them both out of the skin with a spoon for my lunch. Getting them in perfect eating condition isn't always the easiest thing. You see people in the shop picking them up and giving them a squeeze. That's no guide. If the avo yields a bit when you press your thumb into the stalk end, and there are no soft spots, you've got a good 'un. If it's rock-solid all over, it won't ripen properly and it'll go all stringy with black bits inside.

A really good thing to do with them, especially in summer, is to make a tricolore salad (tricolore, the three colours of the Italian flag). You need for two, at least 11/2 avocados, if not two, thinly sliced lengthways, a 250 g lump of drained mozzarella (Galbani good), cut into coin-sized slices, and half a pound of the best cherry toms you can get your hands on, each one cut in half. You can just chuck the whole lot together and mix it up, or you can get all arty-farty and arrange it all nicely in a big salad bowl. Sprinkle a small amount of salt and a generous grinding of black pepper over, drizzle your finest extra virgin olive oil over the whole lot and tear some fresh baby basil leaves on top. You absolutely must have the best avocados and tomatoes you can find. On a hot summer's evening, it can be a main course in itself.