No, Avocado Toast Did Not Come From LA – It’s 100 Years Old And From Latin America
“Slutty Daddy” Pedro Pascal singlehandedly put Chilean cuisine on the map when he went viral on LADBible showing the world the Chilean staple of avocado toast! Or, as we call it, “pan con palta”.
Avocado toast has truly become a beloved staple in many people’s diets. Avocados are a nutritious fruit that are rich in healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins, making avocado toast a tasty and healthy breakfast option. But who invented it? LA seems to think it did. As do the Australians.
So, who invented avocado toast?
A wealthy Australian restaurant owner tried to co-opt it in 1993, and that’s the story the media has covered. The wellness community then tried to co-opt it, and people started to think it was “created “ in NY or LA. It then gained popularity in other parts of the world, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, in the 2000s.
In the mid 2010’s it seemed to make its way to hotspots like Los Angeles, where it was often joked that it was where $15 avocado toast originated. Farm to table restaurants began adding things like truffle oil, sprouts, egg, salmon and calling it a brunch favorite.
Recently a startup called Taste Atlas rated “Avocado Toast” as one of the 100 best rated sandwiches – and said it was invested by LA, leaving many of Chile’s residents fuming on Twitter and Tik Tok.
But in reality, this rich toast has origins in Latin America. Outlets like The New Yorker and the LA Times and multiple articles on food history trace avocado toast to Latin America.
Very respected LA Times food reporter and food author Gustavo Arellano has said that Mexicans have been eating guacamole for centuries, and Spaniard colonizers brought bread into it. It was an indigenous Mexican staple and still is beloved in the country.
Chileans and Peruvians have been eating mashed avocado on bread, too and we call it “pan con pasta,” since the 1800s and I have a feeling it was possibly brought to the US by Chilean miners to San Francisco.
We eat it as a snack, for breakfast or with tea time (once), as a Senora Era staple. Marraqueta (a Chilean favorite with crusty outside skin) with mashed avocado is our healthy snack of choice of literally everyone.
So the next time you hear someone taking credit for avocado toast, let them know that the Aztecs discovered it, the Spaniards brought bread into it and the Chileans and Peruvians popularized it.
Here are 3 delicious avocado toast recipes:
