Ahhh sweet, another holiday you can really sink your teeth into -- National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day! That sounds like a good enough reason to celebrate to me. On Friday I got a knock at my door from the UPS man. My friend Gale had sent me some gourmet Vosges Chocolates she got while visiting Las Vegas. This is the same wonderful Gale who sent me the liqueur chocolate covered cherries last Christmas. Included in her package was a box of Bombalinas. These are cashews smothered in dark chocolate with ginger, wasabi and sesame seeds. There were wonderful! I say that past tense because sadly, they didn't last long enough for National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day to come around before I gobbled them up. Thank you so very much, Gale -- you're sweeter than sweet!
If you're like me and have no clue what a cashew looks like growing in the wild, you might be a little surprised by what you see. Cashews grow on evergreen trees that can be 32 feet tall. The trees produce a pear-shaped fruit. The inside is very sweet, juicy and similar to an apple, but the outside is fragile, which makes transporting difficult. The cashew nut grows on the end of this fruit. Cashew trees were native to Brazil, but are now grown in over 30 countries, wherever the climate is warm and humid. One cashew tree produces 200-300 cashews a year. Vietnam, Nigeria, India, and Brazil account for 90% of all cashew exports. Cashews are eaten raw, roasted, salted, or sugared. Since they cost more than other nuts, chocolate covered cashews are generally more expensive and produced by fancier chocolate companies. Below is a picture of the cashew fruit with the nut growing at the bottom. It's definitely not what I expected them to look like.
Happy National Chocolate Covered Cashew Day!
Wow Rena! I always learn something new when I read your blog. Chocoloate covered cashews sound like something my hubby would really like.
ReplyDeleteErin
OK I'm in. I don't have any. Maybe just chocolate will do. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love plain cashews so I know I'd love chocolate cashews! My oldest son just tried cashews (they are my afternoon snack!) yesterday and liked them. My four year old son decided to try them too and gagged and spit it out!
ReplyDeleteCool pic of the plant too!
ReplyDeleteYum! I love cashews, and add some chocolate? Double yum. I have cashews, but no chocolate covered ones. Guess I'll just have to eat both of them and pretend.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info and picture about cashews. I never knew what they looked like before either. Kind of cool, kind of freaky!
Do you know if people eat the fruit part of the cashew? Is it called cashew fruit or named something different? Just curious :)
Wow,now that's an interesting plant. Cashews are great,but I never buy them,because my youngest son broke out years ago when he ate some. I've never dared to give him any since. And ANYTHING is even better covered with chocolate!Never had them that way.
ReplyDeleteLeanne
Mmmm my favorite nut! That is an interesting picture, I never knew that is where they come from. I'm curious to know what the fruit is called as well. Not very many cashews on a tree, must be billions of those little suckers out there! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteNancy
This is what Wiki says regarding the cashew fruit --
ReplyDelete"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 "jocote de 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. It is often used as a flavor in agua fresca."
The whole thing looks weird to me. It almost looks like a yellow mushroom growing on a tree.
Thanks for the additional info Rena!
ReplyDeleteI love cashews. Some else interesting about them is that their shell has a toxin similar to that of poison ivy.
ReplyDeleteOkay, THANK YOU! Cashews are my very favorite nut, and I have always wondered what they really looked like growing... that is just weird!
ReplyDeleteI've never had chocolate covered cashews - but I'd probably like chocolate covered cardboard.
ReplyDelete:)
I never miss a holiday! Off to find some chocolate... oh right, cashews too! lol
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed 'em. :)
ReplyDeleteBit of trivia: Did you know that the shell of the cashew is actually toxic to humans? That's why you'll only ever see shelled cashews on the market. Another reason why they're so expensive...
I love, love, love cashews. They're probably my favourite kind of nut. I can unabashedly pick them out of a can of mixed nuts and gobble them up.
Gale
Are you serious? Is there a chocolate covered grasshopper day? No, I don't eat 'em, just wondering.
ReplyDeleteWow! I also had no idea what they looked like growing.
ReplyDeleteI'm off to find something chocolate now :)
I embarrassed to say I did not know all that about cashews. I love cashews. I put 'em right up there with pistachios.
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