Which English privateer wrote the first known description of a guacamole-like recipe?

William Dampier wrote the first known description of a guacamole-like recipe. He recorded it in his 1697 travel book, A New Voyage Round the World, after visiting Central America.

Dampier was an English privateer, navigator, and naturalist whose voyages produced detailed observations of plants, food, coastlines, and local customs. His account describes a preparation made by grinding avocados with sugar and lime juice, although he did not call it guacamole.

The wording matters: this is the first known written description, not necessarily the first time the dish was prepared. Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica had been eating and cultivating avocados for centuries before Dampier documented the preparation. The name guacamole comes from Classical Nahuatl āhuacamōlli, meaning avocado sauce or avocado mixture.

A common mix-up is to credit Sir Francis Drake, Henry Morgan, or Walter Raleigh because all were famous English maritime figures. Dampier is the relevant writer because his travel account preserved the early recipe description.