Where your cashew nuts come from - and what cashew fruit looks like

Cashew nuts in Cashew Heights, Singapore. Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Why are cashew nuts so expensive? Where do they come from? Can I grow them?

Answers
A cashew nut tree is in the Cashew Heights condo complex, on Cashew Road, leading uphill from Cashew MRT station. Many roads in this are are named after nuts.

What is a nut? A nut grows as a single item protected by a hard shell. Think of a walnut, a brazil nut, a hazel nut. Unlike seeds such as sesame seeds which are smaller and softer sand scatter.

I saw them lying on the ground. The nuts looked dark and dirty. I thought of picking one up, washing it off and eating it. But it was rock hard.

Looking at the cashew nut, what at first sight seemed to be a cashew nut hanging from a pear, turned out to be the hard shell of a cashew nut.

So you can grow cashew nut trees in Asia, in the tropics, in Singapore. The trees grow big. You need a lot of space. A smaller variety of tree produces crops faster, in three years.

Cashew nuts mainly come in quantity from Brazil, Vietnam, India and the Ivory Coast.

The fruit is also used in drinks and chutneys and jams. Both the cruit skin and nut casing can be astringent and cause allergic reactions, which is why the nuts are not sold in the shell. Now you know.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew
https://www.tropicalpermaculture.com/growing-cashews.html

Cashew nut and cashew apple, both of which are edible - with some warnings. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.