Who knew that cashew nuts come attached to a gorgeous, soft, oily-feeling fruit shaped like a bell pepper and called a cashew apple?
Cashews grow right here at BIB. All parts of the cashew fruit/nut combo contain the same ingredient, urushiol, that makes poison ivy toxic. Most people can drink the juice or wine or suck the fruit without problems, but if you’re very susceptible to poison oak, ivy or poisonwood, handle with care. Go here to read up on it.
You can “eat” the fruit if you want, just cut off the tip and suck out the juice. Don’t bother trying to bite a piece off and eat it, though, because that doesn’t work. Just chew and suck. It’s delicious, although if it isn’t really ripe it might pucker your mouth like persimmons do.
Linda DiGiralamo made about a quart of really delightful cashew wine in 2019. Here’s her advice:
First, twist off the cashew nuts and set them aside to dry if you plan to plant or to make roasted cashew nuts later.
1. Slice off tips of about 15 cashew apples and discard. Cut the rest into 4 pieces.
2. Add sugar, about 1 cup per quart of cut-up apples.
3. Blend in the sugar and let everything sit for 15 minutes.
4. Squeeze the cut-up chunks with your hands to get as much juice out as possible.
5. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or coarse cloth and pour into quart jars.
6. Cover lightly and put in a warmish place to ferment (not in direct sunlight).
It will take a few weeks to brew, depending on the temperature and your particular tastes. Take off the lid every few days to make sure it doesn’t explode.
A local traditional recipe is even easier – cut up ripe cashew apples, put the chunks in a jar with sugar, and cover with water. After a few weeks, caramba! Cashew wine!
Instructions for harvesting, preparing and roasting the nuts are here.
You can also make a non-fermented juice — here’s a recipe from online and it looks pretty good. It’s similar to the wine recipe above, but utilizes a blender and the option of adding water:
1. Remove nut and cut cashew apples in quarters. Blend in a blender until liquified.
2. Pour the liquid into a strainer and mash it against the strainer with a spoon until all the juice is expressed.
3. Add water and sugar to taste.
4. A shot of something carbonated will make it sparkle, or mix it half-and-half with beer to make a shandy.