Avocado arrived here through salads and got stuck there. That is a shame, because it is one of the few ingredients that works equally well in a drink and in a dessert - and summer is exactly the season when that makes sense.

The cream is the point. What makes avocado work where other fruit fails is its texture. Whipped, it behaves like cream without being cream. That is why it goes into smoothies and smoothie bowls as a dairy substitute, and into cold soups with cucumber, yoghurt, tomato or herbs, where it delivers the thickness that would otherwise demand flour or potato.

The half is a bowl. Once the stone comes out, what is left is a hollow that is literally a portion. Into it go tartares, seafood mixes or cold creams - no plate, no plating, no work.

There is a sweet side too. Mousses, sweet creams and homemade ice cream are part of a repertoire almost nobody here uses. Avocado and lime ice cream needs four hours in the freezer, but zero skill.

There are three practical rules and they all come down to the same thing - avocado does not forgive a timing mistake. First, ripeness: the fruit should give slightly under finger pressure, neither hard nor soft. Second, oxidation: lemon or lime immediately after cutting, otherwise in fifteen minutes you have a brown mass. Third, prepare it right before serving - not the night before.

Of the ten suggestions on the list, the fastest is an avocado and honey smoothie in ten minutes. Avocado hummus, cold cucumber and yoghurt soup, deviled eggs with avocado cream and tuna rolls are all under twenty minutes. So is the avocado and mango tartare with mozzarella. Guacamole mousse needs no cooking at all.

None of these is difficult. That is the whole point - summer is not the season for recipes demanding an oven and patience, but for the ones that need a sharp knife and half a lemon.