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The Story of Cashews

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Cashews the cashew plant

showing the cashew apple and the cashew kernel at the tip of the cashew apple

The delightful cashew nut is loved by everybody. Cashews are a product loved by the wealthy nations and provided for by the poor nations. It is closely related to the Mango and Pistachio plants. Cashews are found growing on cashew trees or "bushes" near the equator. The cashew grows wild in brazil and in cashew plantations in India where the cashew was transplanted into a cashew crop.

Origins

The first western people sighting the cashew tree was by the Portuguese. They invaded Brazil in the 1500's. Portuguese seamen brought the seeds of the cashew nut tree from Brazil to be planted by the early settlers along the east coast of Africa. The trees took root and thrived. It was not long before cashew trees were growing wild along the entire coast of Mozambique. They spread to Kenya and Tanzania.

Uncared for and uncultivated, the ripe nuts were primarily harvested by the African natives. Later, they were sold to the Portuguese traders who in turn disposed of them to merchants who then shipped the nuts to India where they were shelled.

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Cashew Apple +Nuts

Eventually, India grew their own cashew tree and the Kerala State (India) Cashew Association is now the largest exporter of cashews in the world. Forteleza, Brazil, ships the second largest quantity of cashews and the two areas represent over 80 percent of the world supply which is around 4 million cases (50 pounds per case). Africa is a distant third. The India crop harvests in May and the Brazilian crop harvests in October.

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The Cashew Tree

Cashew trees flourish in extreme heat in the tropics and are readily found near the equator. The tree isn't more than 30 feet tall (like an apple or cherry tree) and often they are mistaken for bushes because the limbs spread easily, strike the ground, and reroot themselves. The trunk is gnarled and tortuous, giving the tree an unkempt appearance.

The Cashew Apple

The highly unusual cashew fruit consists of both a crab apple (called the cashew apple), and a kidney bean shaped appendage on the end of the fruit called the cashew nut. The apple is shaped like and is the same size as a pear; when ripe, it is a brilliant yellow, red or scarlet color. Like all fruit trees, a flower emerges and the nut grows from the center of the flower.

The receptor or "apple" is a later swelling between the flower and the nut - forming the cashew apple. After harvesting, the cashew apple keeps for only 24 hours before the soft fruit deteriorates. The cashew apple is not commercially important since it spoils quickly, but local people love the fruit. To harvest the nut, the ripe apple is allowed to fall to the ground where it is easily gathered by natives. The apple and nut are separated.

The gray/brown cashew nut hangs like a nose at the end of the cashew apple. The nut shell is 1-1/2 inches long and kidney shaped. The nut is found on the end closest to the cashew apple. The other end is honeycombed with cells. These cells contain a toxic resinous fluid called cardol that blisters the mouth. For many years, the cashew was referred to as the blister nut.

Inside the hard shell is a slightly curved white cashew kernel which is about 7/8 inches long and is wrapped in a thin brown skin called a testa which is removed during the processing. The cashew nut, therefore, has two shells - the hard exterior shell and the testa.

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Processing the Cashew Kernel

There are two ways to remove the cashew shell, the inside fluid and the thin brown skin. Washing the raw nut in a water bath and storing it in moist heaps or silos for 12 hours makes the shells brittle as long as they maintain 7% to 10% humidity. The shell will rupture and liberate cardol fluid.

Cashew Chunks

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The older method is to roast the whole nut in shallow pans over an open charcoal fire with constant agitation. The process was used in native marketplaces and was dangerous and disagreeable. Shells burst, spurting the caustic fluid and releasing clouds of acrid fumes which blistered the skin. At the same time, the heat caused the caustic fluid to dissipate.

Modern extraction methods are to put the nuts in a large perforated cylinder which rotates at a declining angle above the heat. As the nut travels down through the roasting cylinder, the liquid flows from the shell and is collected in troughs and commercially sold. Some kernels get scorched because they become overheated near the bottom of the pile. These become second and third grades in quality. As the nuts emerge from their journey, they are water sprayed and set aside to cool and dry.

Nut cracking in small batches is done manually by native laborers. They place the nut on a hard flat stone and crack the brittle shell, hitting it with a wooden mallet.

The India Cashew Association Marketing Letter

Grading

This manual cracking results in many broken kernels which bring a lower market price. Cashews are graded on how white they are and how broken the kernel is. There are four color grades, four styles of break on the kernel and six sizes (or maximum number of kernels per pound).

1   is the whitest kernel and the best
2   is lightly scorched
3   is scorched and dark
4   is extremely dark and not in much demand

We purchase many grades and sizes because our customers have different needs. That's why the price varies as the nuts get larger and whiter. Whole sizes cost more than pieces. We buy the top grades of cashews - only the whitest and highest quality.

Mixed Nuts

There are very few nut roasting plants. Only four of us exist in the northwestern United States. Each prides themselves on their different nut mixtures. Like a winery or coffee roasting company, we are famous for how our nuts taste. The mixed nuts and nut-fruit mixtures are signature products of our plant.

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Cashew Splits

How We Process the Cashews

At The Nut Factory, we roast the cashew kernel at 325 degrees Fahrenheit in hot roasting oil for between 5 and 12 minutes. This softens the kernel and gives it a buttery taste. No two batches of cashews roast the same, so it requires skill and careful watching of the exact moment when the nut starts to turn an ivory color. Only by roasting in small batches can we get the perfect roast on each nut.

As the nut starts to go from the white stage to a light ivory color, we remove the nut, drain the kernels and let them cool on stainless steel tables that hold 250 pounds. As they cool, they become crunchy and sweet, and they slowly turn a rich light brown color. At this stage, we salt the nuts while they are still warm to get the maximum rich taste. Some of the roasted nuts are set aside for unsalted uses.

We receive cashews from many countries and each lot is different.

The Brazilian cashew is the largest, softest and whitest cashew. Some find them sweeter or richer in taste. Health food stores love large, white Brazilian cashews.

Cashews from India are smaller and much more crisp. They can be sweet, but they can be bland. Indian cashews are more ivory in color. In more recent years, we have received cashews from China and recently from Vietnam. Vietnam cashew pieces are extremely sweet.

We love the largeness of the Brazilian cashew as a roasting plant because our customers love large sizes. We also love the crispness found in the Indian, African and Vietnamese cashews, even if they are smaller sizes. Often, we have cashews in our plant from all five growing areas at the same time. We know each shipper's label and their special taste - much like a coffee or wine expert.

It is not uncommon for us to go through 50,000 to 100,000 pounds of cashews in a year.

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