Now, I think most of you will have eaten cashew nuts at some point in your lives. Remember how tasty their were? Remember also how expensive they were? If you don't remember, let me remind you, that they are very nice, but also very expensive.... Now, why would a little nut like that be so expensive?

See the picture accompanying this post? Well, that's the cashew fruit. It is red/ orange in colour, and has a soft skin. Both skin and fruit are soft and easy to cut. See also the little green/grey thing hanging from the bottom? In that case is the cashew nut we eat.

Want to try it? Well, I wouldn't, at least not yet. Cause you will be killed. Not just a myth, people have been killed from eating the raw nut. Wonder why? Well, if you break open the nut, an extremely acid liquid comes out. This liquid is so acid, that upon contact with the skin it will immediatly burn down to the bone, so, I think you can imagine what happens when you eat it... Right?

So how do we eat such a poisonous nut? Well, the little green/grey thing has to get burned in a very hot fire. So only in coal or wood fire. It has to burn for many hours, until it is completely roasted. Only then can you extract the nut from the inside, and consume it in safety. See now why it is such an expensive process? And ofcourse, European sellers, like to exploit the prices, making it even more expensive.

The fruit of the cashew (the red bit) gets consumed frequently, and a very common thing to do with it is to make cashew juice. I personally don't really enjoy the juice so much, especially the concentrated packets. When made fresh, it is drinkable. However people here enjoy it very much, and drink it on a regular basis.

When making the juice from the fruit itself, you have to be very carefull with your clothes, because the juice leaves a very ugly stain, as it is a bit acid as well. But other than that it is perfectly harmless, and very drinkable. When left in the fridge to cool for a long time it is a very refreshing drink after a long day in the sun.