August 13, 2009
FROM TREE TO MOM'S CHUTNEY My first experience with cashew nuts was when I used to visit Kerala as a child on vacations. More recently I had the opportunity ...
Other Names: 腰果 (Chinese), الكاجو (Arabic), Caju (Portuguese), Cajou (French), Anacardo (Spanish) All Translations
Edited by: Latesha Carter
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Wikipedia
The cashew (''Anacardium occidentale''; syn. ''Anacardium curatellifolium'' A.St.-Hil.) is a tree in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The plant is native to northeastern Brazil. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, ''caju'', which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, ''acajú''. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew "nuts" (see below) and cashew apples. It is a small evergreen tree growing to 10-12m (~32 ft) tall, with a short, often irregularly shaped trunk. The leaves are spirally arranged, leathery textured, elliptic to obovate, 4 to 22 cm long and 2 to 15 cm broad, with a smooth margin. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb up to 26 cm long, each flower small, pale green at first then turning reddish, with five slender, acute petals 7 to 15 mm long. What appears to be the fruit of the cashew tree is an oval or pear-shaped accessory fruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. Called the cashew apple, better known in Central America as "marañón", it ripens into a yellow and/or red structure about 5–11 cm long. It is edible, and has a strong "sweet" smell and a sweet taste. The pulp of the cashew apple is very juicy, but the skin is fragile, making it unsuitable for transport. The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney or boxing-glove shaped drupe that grows at the end of the pseudofruit. The drupe develops first on the tree, and then the peduncle expands into the pseudofruit. Within the true fruit is a single seed, the cashew nut. Although a nut in the culinary sense, in the botanical sense the fruit of the cashew is a seed. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing a dermatogenic phenolic resin, anacardic acid, a potent skin irritant chemically related to the more well known allergenic oil urushiol which is also a toxin found in the related poison ivy. Some people are allergic to cashew nuts, but cashews are a less frequent allergen than nuts or peanuts.
[edit] About Cashew
A kidney-shaped nut that grows out from the bottom of the cashew apple, the shell is highly toxic so great care is taken in shelling and cleaning the nut, they have a sweet, buttery flavor and contain about 48 percent fat, and because of their high fat content, they should be stored, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator to retard rancidity, and as with most nuts, roasting cashews brings out their nutty flavor.
Recipes With Cashew
Honey Roasted Cashews
Cashew, Honey, Roasted, Salt
Cashew, Honey, Roasted, Salt
Gorp Trail Mix
Cashew, Dates, Raisin
Cashew, Dates, Raisin
Aloo Mattar
Cashew, Green Peas, Oil, Onion, Potatoes
Cashew, Green Peas, Oil, Onion, Potatoes
Peanut Butter and Fudge Ice Cream Pie
Cashew, Honey, Peanut Butter
Cashew, Honey, Peanut Butter
Filo Nests
Cashew, Filo, Non-Stick Cooking Spray, Pecan
Cashew, Filo, Non-Stick Cooking Spray, Pecan
