The cashew tree bears red or yellow fruit,
 which sports a raw cashew
nut encased in a greenish-grey shell. The fruit is edible and ranges
from sweet when ripe to a little bitter when picked before its time.
Many say it is an acquired taste, as all but the ripest surprisingly
suck the moisture from your mouth with each bite. A wine is sometimes
 made by pressing the fruit and fermenting the juice, and Gambians
claim that eating too many fruits can have the same effect as the
wine. Beware of the cashew juice—it leaves difficult to remove stains on
clothing. Undoubtedly, hundreds of ladies with trays of roasted cashew
nuts on balanced on their heads will beleaguer you to patronize them
wherever you go.
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If the cashews seem expensive compared
 to groundnuts, consider
the fact that each and every nut must be roasted in its oily
shell, meticulously cracked open, and peeled from thin inner
skin before being ready for consumption. For this reason, never
pick a cashew from a tree without first consulting the
owner—each little fruit and accompanying nut is highly prized.
Also, be aware that the oily nut casing or the smoke from
roasting them causes some people to develop a rash similar to
poison ivy.
Because of its high value the cashew has become a popular cash
crop among the rural poor and is now being exported to European
markets.
Production: 3,000 metric tonnes per annum
Anacardium occidentale
Originally from Brazil
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