One of my favorite foods and one of the best for you is nuts. Crazy, isn't it? How do you think we ever started equating nuts with mental acuity? I have no idea - maybe another time.
Today I'm talking about my favorite - the cashew. I'm surprised I knew so little about this little gem. Now, why do they coast so much? Here's a brief overview.
Most cashews are grown in Western Africa and India although they tree is native to South America. The trees they grow on only produce one harvest per year. The cashew tree produces a fruit, a cashew apple, to which the nut is attached. See pic below. The apples with nut are harvested by hand. Each nut is pulled off of it's fruit.
When the nut is pulled off of the apple, it has a shell which is very toxic. The deshelling is another process done by hand. After the shell is removed, the nut is still somewhat toxic. There is an inner membrane over the nut which also must be removed. Then they can be washed and sorted. Most of the cashews sold here have been processed in Vietnam. Although few are grown there, the Vietnamese have developed some processes to reduce the cost of getting the nuts to market.
Now it makes sense that these are the most expensive nuts in the nut house.
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