If you live in the United States of America, it’s possible that you’ve heard of cashews. And it’s very probable that you have tried them too. Am I correct? In case you haven’t heard or seen cashews before, let me tell you of two realities: for Americans a cashew is a nut, but for Brazilians it’s more than a nut.
As you may know Brazil is a tropical country, and it’s rich in a variety of tropical and exotic fruit. Among them, there’s one called caju – thus cashew. This fruit has a shape that resembles that of pear, and at the bottom of it hangs a seed covered by a hard shell. That seed is eatable and is what Americans know as the nut. To be able to get the nut out of the shell, it has to be roasted. In Brazil, it’s usually done over an open fire. Then, you can break the shell and get a beautiful and tasteful nut which resembles the shape of its shell.
You’re probably thinking; what about the fruit, is it eatable? Yes, it is! You know it’s ready to be picked when it gets a beautiful yellowish to reddish coat. This fruit can enjoyed in different ways: it can be eaten right after being picked from the tree, including it’s smooth skin, just like an apple. It can be squeezed to make some delicious juice either to drink or make popsicles. It can also be cooked with sugar to make a delicious dessert or dried as a fig. As a matter of fact, when dried it has the same texture as that of a fig.
Now, you know that a cashew as it’s called in the United States is just half of the story.
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