What is a Cashew Apple?

Most likely, your pantry contains an assortment of your favorite snack items. You probably reach in, make a selection and enjoy it without giving much thought to the uniqueness of the item. For example, the cashew package you have in the nut section of your pantry doesn’t actually contain nuts. A cashew is a fruit. There are several other characteristics regarding raw cashews that make them quite interesting.

Cashew Apple

A cashew apple is an oval-shaped, red or yellow fruit. It has a sweet, tropical flavor and is used in jams, juices, various kinds of vinegar, and other culinary ways. Cashew fruit is eaten and used fresh in culinary dishes only in areas where the fruit is grown because it is highly perishable. Outside each cashew fruit, growing in a hard shell, you’ll find one cashew seed. You’ll never find a cashew being sold in the shell because the shell is toxic. The cashew must undergo a specialized process to remove the shell to make it safe to eat.

Cashew nut

The term raw cashews is a little misleading. Every cashew nut undergoes a steaming or roasting process to remove its shell. Once this process is complete, the cashew can be eaten. At this stage, it has a sweet, buttery flavor and a slightly soft texture. What is sold as roasted cashews, are nuts that have been roasted a second time. The second roasting enhances the flavor of the cashew and gives it a crunchy texture. Roasted cashews are a popular snack, a delectable party table treat, a superb recipe add-in for main course meals, and a delicious topping for desserts.

Interesting Information

Once you finish discussing cashew apples with someone at a party or with a co-worker, you can extend the conversation by tossing out a few other interesting things about cashews. You could mention that the United States consumes 90% of the world’s cashews. With so many people adopting healthy eating habits, you could relay some of the many health benefits of cholesterol-free cashews. Supporting heart health, bone health, boosting immunity, and aiding weight management are just a few benefits. A conversation that involves an exchange of ideas regarding the many ways to use cashew nuts could be quite lengthy.