Due to its taste, the cashew is seen as an upper-class nut, becoming more and more interesting for industrial processing and its use in cookies and cereals or as a topping on ice-cream. Cashews have a very high oil content, and they are used in some other nut butters to add extra oil. They can also be ground into a spread called cashew butter similar to peanut butter. Cashew nuts are a common ingredient in Asian cooking. Raw cashews found in health food shops have been cooked but not roasted or browned. The nuts removed from the skin are processed in various ways: they can be fried in oil (and possibly salted), roasted with hot air, coated in sugar like a sugar peanut, coated with a batter similar to bubbly nuts or used as a kitchen ingredient. In many production regions, the fruit is discarded after removal of the cashew nut. However, the cashew apple contains much tannin and is very perishable. The cashew apple is used for its juicy but acidic pulp, which can be eaten raw or used in the production of jam, chutney, or various beverages. ![]() After removing the in-shell nuts from the cashew apple, processing typically includes the following steps: preparing the nuts for shelling (drying, sizing, cleaning, steam cooking or roasting), shelling (with automatic, semi-automatic or manual machines), peeling (drying shelled nuts, automatic or manual peeling), grading (color sorting, sizing, cleaning) and packing (weighing, vacuum sealing). Production of the raw nut kernels is therefore very difficult, and different in many production regions. ![]() The skin contains poison, known as CNSL or ‘cashew nut shell liquid’, a highly corrosive oil which can cause severe skin irritation. The actual fruit containing the seed is inconspicuous and hangs under the mock fruit. After harvesting, twist the nuts off of the apples by hand. Alternatively, you can wait until the fruit falls to the ground, when you know it’s ripe. Cashew harvesting can take place about two months after the fruit has set, when the apple takes on a pink or red cast and the nut turns gray. The peak fruit collection period is between February and March, with a few late maturing trees dropping their fruits in April. The ripe fruits normally start to drop in late January. The fruit matures in 90 to 100 days after flowering. The real fruit, a single seed carrying the cashew nut, hangs from the apple. The fruit, or ‘cashew apple’, which resembles a bell pepper, of the anacardium occidentale is what is called a ‘false fruit’. Current global production of raw cashew nuts exceeds 2 million tons, or about a quarter of the world edible nuts production. The economy of the West African republic Guinea-Bissau is 95 percent dependent on the export of cashew nuts. Due to developments in African countries, more and more raw nuts are processed in the country of harvest. Most of the cashew nuts grown in Africa are shipped to India and Vietnam, where they are then processed into the final edible nut in just a few steps. The largest cashew nut producing countries are India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mozambique, Madagascar, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana and Togo. It was the beginning of the global industry it is today Its presence soon spread, expanding its conquest of the entire coastal region of the peninsula thanks to elephants eating the trees’ fruit and dispersing its seeds. Portuguese explorers planted the tree in Goa to prevent coastal erosion, as they tend to have extensive root systems, keeping the soil in place. The caju tree ("cajueiro") has this interestung feature that sometimes branches go down to the ground and start new trees - and that can go on forever if there is no barrier.The aforementioned anacardium occidentale is native to Brazil and was first introduced to India some 500 years ago. ![]() nowadays some contemporary Brazilian chefs use cajuína in some dishes. it is something to try if in that area as it is not widely available in the rest of Brazil. Other than the juice, there is a drink called "cajuína". being there in season (Sept-Nov, which is also dry period) is great we have stayed in "pousadas" full of caju trees and were treated to delicious, incredibly fresh caju as part of breakfast, ![]() in some states in NE Brazil one can find a lot of caju trees. "fresh caju" often has what we call "cica" - something like "being adstringent",īut when it is "right", it is great. outside NE Brazil, it is more common as a juice, ice cream flavor - or in caipirinhas. "caju" can be a tricky fruit to eat raw, but when it is "right" it can be delicious.
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