29 Me & Cashew Fruit

Did you know that cashew nut comes from a fruit? Yes a fruit, I am always surprised by people's surprise by this bit of information. I have added a photograph to the left of your screen of the cashew fruit with the cashew nut at the bottom. Perhaps you're saying so...? and to that I'd say, all knowledge is good even the little bitty things that seem insignificant after all "knowledge is power". In this case though am relaying the information as an explanation due to a debate I was having with a friend about the cost of cashew nuts.

Cashews as I've stated before comes from a fruit. One nut per fruit, so in order to get 10 cashews you have to pick ten fruits. The fruit has a few colors according to its stage of ripeness, at least that's how I remember it. Each nut is nestled at the bottom of the fruit like a question mark. The fruit as you can see resembles a pear. The cashew fruit is absolutely delicious and very, very juicy but you must know exactly when to eat it or it will (tie up your mouth) leave your mouth feeling like it has been tied in knots much like when you take medications that dehydrate your body. Once the cashew fruit reaches it full ripeness you can  eat it to your heart's content however the cashew fruit must be handled with care as it perishes fairly quickly much like strawberries. At least that has been my experience.

I remember as a child eating the cashew fruit and licking the juices from my elbows to my wrists, relishing every succulent bite. Ha ha, what can I say it’s the nature of kids to eat heartily and with a lot of gusto. In the Caribbean Island where I am from (Trinidad & Tobago) my friends and I use to gather wood and build a small fire beside the cashew tree, and then we would pick the cashew fruit twist off the cashew nut, eat the fruit and then roast the cashews and eat them savouring every bite. The fruit is spectacular and the nuts were the bonus prize that we gleefully stored possessively in either our shirts tails, school bags or whatever was handy for temporary storage until we were finished devouring the fruit. Understand the psyche of a kid we did not store it in one pile and then  share, ooh no, we each picked our own and kept our nuts, storing in one pile proved dangerous as quarrels, disagreements, and fights would break out about who was entitled to the most or if one person in particular was eating too fast accusations would fly about how he was too greedy and was being gluttonous as to deprive the rest of us of any. Ahhh (sigh) it was a glorious time, I still love cashews the fruit and cashew nuts, the only draw back is now I have to pay for them (sigh).

Cashew fruits are also known as Caju.