Don't breathe in the fumes, and if the nuts catch fire douse them with water. I think you are supposed to do that over an open fire. I have to admit that I haven't tried that method yet.)Īnother roasting method is to heat the nuts for a minute in an open pan with holes (so the caustic liquid can drain away). When they are ready cool them in a bucket of water, get them out of the shell, and dry them. Be careful when putting the nuts in because they will squirt that liquid at you as they hiss and jump in the oil. No longer or they will become too brittle. Heat the oil to 210☌ / 410 ° F and then drop the nuts into it for two minutes. The roasting method requires oil, and a clear mask and long gloves and sleeves and pants and an apron. The nuts can be eaten raw, but please, please make sure they are not contaminated with any of that liquid! You still need gloves and long clothes and I'd also use safety glasses, just in case. One method is to freeze the shells, and then separate the shell from the nut before it thaws. The challenge is to separate the nut from the shell without getting the stuff on your skin, or worse, into your eyes. Their shell is full of a horrible, caustic liquid that will burn holes into you! You can't just shell and eat cashew nuts like other nuts. The apple may be cut into thick strips, chiplike, blanched in water, squeezed to remove water and cooked as any other vegetable. "Just to let you know that the young shoots are delicious eaten with rice and dishes. Here is another little tip I received from a reader. Mature trees need about 10 metres/30 feet distance between them and they grow to 12 metres/40 feet tall. Select a well drained spot (cashew trees don't like wet feet or heavy clay soils), preferably a place that has some protection from strong winds. Keep them moist and they should sprout within four or five days.īest planting time? When you can get hold of fresh seed. If you want to grow your cashew trees from seeds you can start them in pots or put them straight in the ground. If you have a grower in the area you may be able to buy stock of him/her. Commercial growers usually propagate their own. Some fruit tree nurseries stock seedling or grafted trees. It may not fruit as much or taste as nice. But be aware that cashew seeds don't grow true to type, meaning, the plant you get is not identical to the parent. How To Plant Cashew Treesįresh seeds germinate readily, so if you know of a cashew tree in your area, or have another way of getting hold of fresh seeds (that's the whole thing, shell and all, not just the nut!), you can grow cashew trees from seed. However, since not everybody has fruit bats to plant their cashew trees for them. What can I say, in my experience growing cashews is super easy! (Grafted cashew trees can fruit within 18 months!) It doesn't get much water, it never saw any fertilizer, and it's as healthy as they come. The cashew tree in the picture is on the very edge of my garden. Especially the fruit bats carry them off and drop the left overs, and that's how I ended up with cashew trees in my garden. Wild birds and bats are attracted to cashew apples. The best soils for growing cashews are sandy soils. They are fairly draught resistant and grow well even on marginal soils where other fruit trees would fail. An average day temperature of around 25☌ (77 ° F) is ideal.Īs long as they have some water cashew trees grow like weeds. You can grow cashew trees anywhere in the wet/dry tropics. The main producers of cashew nuts are Brazil, India, Vietnam, Africa (Tanzania and Mozambique) and South East Asia.ĭay temperatures for growing cashews should not drop below 10☌ (50 ° F), and cashew trees handle temperatures above 40☌ (105 ° F) well. More on processing and shelling cashews later. Also inside that shell is a very nasty, caustic liquid that causes severe burns, so be careful when handling it. The cashew nut is inside the funny looking, kidney shaped shell that is attached to the bottom of the cashew apple. Valente from her blog article " It's all in the flavour " They can be anything from delicately sweet, through to grabbing you by the back of the throat and burning until you cough and cough." - by reader Claire P. The fruits vary greatly in their colours, from deep red through varying shades of orange to bright yellow, and just as their colour differs, so does their flavour.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |