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I’ve never heard of this before! Interesting………..
Wow If you hang around long enough one can learn something new. Here is my something new, who'd have guessed?

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Ever wonder where cashews come from?

You might think they grow inside a shell like any other nut, but their origins are far more bizarre.

First of all, cashews are not actually nuts, but rather fruits from the cashew tree, a large evergreen tree that thrives in tropical climates.

The tree produces red flowers, which in turn produce yellow and red oval structures resembling apples. These so-called cashew apples are very juicy and pulpy, and their juice is often added to tropical fruit drinks.

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However, cashew apples are not actually fruits in a scientific sense...the real fruit of the cashew tree is the kidney-shaped formation growing at the end.

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These fruits, also called drupes, are harvested and become what we know as a cashew nut. In their raw form, the other layer of the fruit contains multiple toxins, including anacardic acid, a powerful skin irritant similar to the toxin found in poison ivy that must be removed prior to eating.

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Roasting the cashews destroys the toxins, but roasting must be performed carefully outdoors because the smoke can irritate the lungs, sometimes to a life-threatening degree.

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Cashews, when they are roasted, change from their natural greenish-gray color to the light brown nut sold in stores.

Next time you crack open a tin of cashews, take a moment to appreciate the long journey those little c-shaped nuts took to get from the tree to your table! It also explains why they are so expensive!