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Cashews: A Nutty Fruit - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


Cashew fruits / cashew apples in the market in Bairro Peixtoto Photo by Jerome Shaw http://www.JeromeShaw.com
Cashew fruits / cashew apples in the market in Bairro Peixtoto Photo by Jerome Shaw http://www.JeromeShaw.com

"Caju Anyone?"

Cashew fruits / cashew apples in the market in Bairro Peixtoto

The colorful fruits captured my attention instantly, I wish I'd taken a bit more time creating a a more interesting image of them.  Next time!

We bought a few of these cashews for home. While we did not eat what we in the US consider the nut (which obviously it is not) we did make a juice from the appendage that is attached to the cashew fruit (which is the part we American's call the nut).. Confused? Well I know that all of my friends from Brazil are laughing now, at least the ones that can read English.

The Cashew Apple- as it is called- is very juicy. It is a bit hard to work with though, as the meat of this pseudo fruit or false fruit is very fibrous and high in acid and tannin. In some parts of the world it is used to make wines or fermented into a liquor. In Brazil it is generally used to make a fresh juice drink or processed for jams. The actual fruit of the cashew tree is a distended kidney shaped bean or seed-like pod that sits atop the bright yellow to red waxy peduncle or, more technically, the receptacle. The shell of the fruit (read nut or seed here) is highly toxic and considered quite dangerous.

Maisa made nice cold icy drinks using Cachaça and the juice of the Caju that we enjoyed later that evening. The fruits or nuts were not used. It seemed a bit more trouble than it was worth to roast four cashews. I was not about to die of cashew poisoning this early in my time in Brazil.

The photo was taken with a Olympus D590 digital camera on automatic exposure with fill flash.

These images are copyrighted and may not be used, reposted, or reproduced without direct written permission.

Contact me at @JeromeShaw  or  Facebook

Fotolog- Postcards from Brazil / Jerome Shaw
Fotolog- Travels Along the Timeline/ Jerome Shaw
www.jeromeshaw.com


Condensed caption:

"Caju Anyone?"
Cashew fruits / cashew apples in the market in Bairro Peixtoto
The colorful fruits captured my attention instantly because of the vibrant colors and the odd but familiarly shaped little bean nestled on top


Subject : Caju Anyone? - Copacabana - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
OriginallyPosted to MySpace URL 
Posted Date: : Oct 28, 2006 9:46 AM

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