Fruit Tree of the Day: Cashew
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Yesterday’s post about was about a fruit that can kill you, so here’s another fruit you may be surprised to learn is poisonous: Cashew. Unlike ackee, it’s easy to get the poison out so it won’t kill you. It’s in the same family of plants as poison Ivy, so most people are allergic to it. The bark and cashew itself both have the poison in it, and the cashew has to be dried out to get rid of the poison. This is done by roasting it-- although then the poison is released in the smoke. So it’s probably not something you’d want to grow yourself for the cashew.
But lets look closely at the picture above:
Yes, each cashew has another fruit attached to it. Actually, the cashew itself is the fruit, and the other thing is called a cashew apple; it’s an accessory fruit (one without seeds, like the part of a regular apple that’s not the core). They taste… interesting. I had a cashew apple when I was on a Caribbean cruise, and my first instinct upon eating one was to spit it out. I resisted, though, and was rewarded with an interesting flavor. Not really sure how to describe it. The fruit is really astringent and will suck all the moisture out of your mouth. Fun fact: They are so good at sucking out moisture that they are an ingredient in lots of acne medication.
But there are two kinds of cashew trees: The kind grown for the cashew, and the kind grown for the apple (which would have a shriveled, worthless cashew). Supposedly, in their native Brazil, there are varieties of cashew apple that taste really good and aren’t as astringent. I’ve never had one of those, though. They also don’t ship well, so you’ll probably never get to try one yourself unless you go to Brazil or grow your own from a seed.
To grow this, you have to be in zone 10 (preferably 10b). Any exposure to frost will kill them; on top of that they’ll stop growing when the temperatures are below 63. So it would be a slow grower in Florida. You could always plant it in a big pot and bring it indoors when it gets cold, but note you’d want to wear gloves when carrying it so you don’t get any sap on your hands.
Bonus: The Brazilian Pepper Tree, or Florida Holly, is in the same family as cashews and poison ivy. That’s where the big red pepper flakes you see in restaurant shakers come from. It’s an invasive species in Florida, though, so don’t grow it.
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Wow never knew any of this, thanks!
@Stallion Same here.
That pepper tree looks like a pyracantha.
Does make me wonder how come some dumb humans decided to keep trying to eat something killing everyone who ate it… and then spent the time to figure out how to keep it from killing you. Personally I’d have learned vicariously from watching that and moved on to oranges or grapefruit or something.
@Kidsandliz Cashews are my favorite nuts. I don’t know if determination would the best word describe them, but imagining the thought process behind the first time someone ate something very bad is rather puzzling. Like the people who decided roasting coffee beans from the poop of animals was a thing, was it because of a dare, revenge, hunger or an accident? The last 2 reasons might be possible for cashews, but for poop beans?
KuoH
@Kidsandliz @kuoh
My brother spent 3 months in Colombia on a coffee farm working and learning the whole process a couple years ago. He told us the whole poop roasting thing.
@Kidsandliz Well, I guess the problem was they didn’t have oranges or something else. They only had whatever grew in the area natively, and had to wait until it was in season. I guess they figured they may die eating it, but they’d die of starvation if they didn’t.
@Kidsandliz
Just think how many leaps of faith that had to be done to get to cheese. My hat is off to everybody in that effort.
First, almost all mammals are lactose intolerant as adults; most Humans are, still. Our lactose tolerance mutation started in the West, and most Asians are still intolerant. After somebody discovered that milk was a great source of protein and fat, and didn’t poop themselves whenever they consumed it, somebody had to make the leap of consuming spoiled milk. God bless 'em because I sure do love cheese.
@Kidsandliz @PocketBrain
Wait until you get a taste of raw oysters.
/image raw oysters
And who the fuck invented Surströmming?
/youtube Surströmming
@Kidsandliz @PocketBrain
“It smells like foreskin”. WTF?
@Kidsandliz @PocketBrain My Japanese mother said that, back when people thought eating seaweed and raw fish was disgusting, Asians thought that eating moldy milk products, i.e. cheese, was appalling.
@Kidsandliz @mike808 @PocketBrain Of course, the Japanese also have natto:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nattō
I tried it but it’s the sliminess I can’t handle.
@mike808 @PocketBrain Raw oysters. JUST NO!
The last time I ate cashews I got really sick, I’m surprised I didn’t vomit. My body got the rest of it out of me pretty quickly. I’ve been scared of them ever since.
Cashews are my favorite nut but I never new how they grew, very interesting. I love these post, I’m leaning so much.
I actually knew this about cashews, surprisingly. It’s funny, they’re also my favorite nut. That’s fortunate, because it’s also the one that doesn’t bother me at all considering I’m allergic to most tree nuts.
I absolutely love how the cashew nut looks like an old man with a poofy hat on!
Thanks for sharing these daily knowledge bites. Really interesting!!!
Cashew apple fruit makes a great liquor. It is very popular in Goa, India and is called “feni”
Fresh cashews are wonderful. They are soft and taste way better than the dried out/roasted ones that we get.
I am sure they are boiled or steamed to get the urushiol (allergen/poison) out.
@asplus Huh. This is something I didn’t know about cashews. I thought roasting was the only way to get the urushiol out and that’s why even “raw” ones sold in stores still taste the same. Now I want to track down fresh cashews… If there’s anything we learned during this month, it’s the fresher the fruit, the better the taste.
@Weboh I just tried to simulate it.
I had some organic unroasted, unsalted cashews from Costco and I boiled a few for a couple of minutes and then let it soak while it cooled down.
Now, they are soft and tender, close to as they would be when fresh.
On the topic of weird apple fruit trees that grow in Florida, can someone identify this elusive apple citrus tree?
@mike808 Not with a picture that low-res.
@mike808 That is the cheeky tree with a fruit that can be enjoyed
@asplus @Weboh
It also bears an abundance of nuts.
gesundheit.