1/16/2024 0 Comments Cashew fruit near meThis is why workers handling cashews are always dressed in protective equipment from head to toe. Handling raw cashew shells without any gloves or protective gear is not recommended since it will produce irritations. This is because the cashew tree is related to poison ivy and poison sumac. There is a natural oil found in the shells that actually causes severe allergies like itchy skin, rashes and burn-like sores on skin. The cashews themselves are alright to eat, but it’s the shells you have to watch out for. You’ll find it in some curries as well, and some brave souls have even turned it into a jam. That being said it’s still used, for example India produces a liquor called Feni, which is made from the second or third distillation of the cashew apple. It’s very rarely used, due to how tough it is and how much of a hassle it is to prepare it. It’s kind of bitter and tough and needs some processing before consumption, like being sprinkled with salt like eggplants, or being steamed for several minutes. The cashew apple is not exactly edible, at least not the way most fruits are. It’s this that’s the true fruit, because according to science a fruit contains the seed on the inside, always.įrom that point of view pretty much anything is a fruit, then. Second, the actual fruit (botanically speaking) which is the cashew ‘nut’. It’s the largest and most prominent thing on the tree. What is important to distinguish here is that there are two fruits we’re discussing.įirst, the cashew apple which is the accessory fruit the nut is attached to. A fruit contains the seed on the insideĪlright, we might’ve confused you a little here. The casing does not crack along the middle after a period of time, but we crack them ourselves.Ĭashews have been viewed as nuts since the beginning and it’s very difficult to think of them as anything else, and understandably so.īut let’s talk about why the cashew nut is actually a fruit. These are all nuts that do not and can not open on their own. If we get technical then the reason cashews aren’t nuts is because from a botanical standpoint the natural hard shell of a nut isn’t going to open on its own.Įxamples include walnuts, chestnuts, acorns and yea cashews. The casing cannot be eaten (we’ll get to that very soon) so it’s always removed before it reaches the store. The grey part is the cashew nuts in their shells.Īttached to the end of that ‘fruit’ is the actual, true cashew fruit – what we call the cashew nut. Each fruit is actually an accessory fruit, like the red part of the strawberry, only it grows very large.Ĭashew ‘fruit’ and seed. You see, the way a cashew grows (see image below) is that the tree produces several fruits on the branch. It’s kind of like buying apple seeds because those are the only edible part. The cashew is actually a fruit ! And botanically speaking, it’s not a nut.īy this we mean that the cashew nuts we see in the market are actually the edible seeds of the cashew fruit. Read Also: 4 Reasons Nuts Are So Expensive So is cashew a fruit or a nut ? Since its propagation cashew has been a staple in many dishes of South and East Asia, and especially so in curries (see Pakistan and India). This was all the way back in the mid 1500s.įrom there is eventually spread throughout Asia, especially the Southeast part and it seems to be present in Northern Africa as well. This is because Portuguese explorers – who actually named it – took it with them in their travels and ti eventually found its way to Goa, India. Cashews are nuts that grow on the cashew tree – the Anacardium occidentale – which is actually native to the American continent (South, Central and North America).ĭespite this, you’ll find this wonderful nut tree in Asia as well.
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