Lessons learned the hard way

[chesters1]

I dont think i have ever had a cashew open or not!

Theres probably lots of nasty things ,i remember even as a kid questioning yew jam in an enid blighton book turns out it exists but you need to remove the pip !

[Vagabond]

While the fruit of the cashew nut tree is safe and delicious to eat, the shell of an uncooked cashew nut contains very unpleasant phenolic compounds similar to those in poison ivy, which cause immediate discomfort and serious contact dermatitis.

 

I didn't know that either - but have never seen them for sale with shell stilll on' One thing I did learn at an early age was not to ear sweet chestnut raw.. They are delicious, but the tiny hairs that coat them inside the brown skin cause a really vicious sore throat.

[chesters1]

You have to peel them well ,if you can get of the thin skin they're ok.

We had a huge chestnut tree at the last house but only ever managed to get a few to roast ,our old goose heard them hitting the ground and raced across to get them ,he wass aven adept at winkling them out of the prickly jacket ,then out of the brown skin

 

I think the worst thing i ever experienced was as a kid of 8 or 9 i was heavily into chemistry and being a collector of things (still have the disease) i decided i needed some ammonia to add to my collection of chemicals ,i bought a bottle of scrubs cloudy ammonia and i i left the shop i decided to take a sniff !

I dont know how i got home i thought i had gone blind and died ,a lesson WELL learnt!

Edited April 13, 2018 by chesters1

[Steve Walker]

 

I didn't know that either - but have never seen them for sale with shell stilll on' One thing I did learn at an early age was not to ear sweet chestnut raw.. They are delicious, but the tiny hairs that coat them inside the brown skin cause a really vicious sore throat.

You have definitely been to places they grow, though? This was St Lucia. We rented a little house in the rainforest, absolutely idyllic. The owner of the property arranged for us to have a day out with her neighbour, Melvyn. Hes a botanist by training but has a little farm. We spent the morning on the beach, down a dirt track the tourists dont know. Theres a sea moss farm there, which I found fascinating, its grown on ropes, like mussels.

 

He lit a fire when we got there, and put some sweet potato and taro on to boil in sea water. Then he gathered hermit crabs for bait and we went hand lining off the rocks for little reef fish. That was quite challenging, I had bites every chuck but most of my bait was stolen off the hook and I lost a few. Eventually got the knack, and between Melvyn and I we gathered enough little fish. Melvyn cleaned them, floured them and fried them over the fire in coconut oil before making a sauce with chilli, garlic and spring onion. We ate off big leaves with our fingers. It was delicious. Afterwards we went for a snorkel and I checked out what I hadnt caught - nothing of any size down there.

 

Afterwards we went up to Melvyns farm. He picked the cashew fruit for us. The fruit is cylindrical, a couple of inches long and maybe an inch thick. It has the consistency of a ripe peach and is sweet, sour and astringent. Really delicious. The nut is attached to the end of the fruit. Wish wed dropped them! Then he showed us some coffee berries and picked a ripe cocoa pod. The cocoa beans are inedible until processed, but the pulp around them is edible and good. A bit like custard apple, though not really similar. Then we had a tour of his herb garden. Cinnamon trees, different sorts of basil and mint (including one so pungent you could use it instead of Vicks), lemon grass, and some local herbs I didnt recognise. All incredibly strong from the hot sun.

 

Then we went home, had beers on the veranda while the crickets and frogs started up, and I had a very bad idea about trying the cashews!

[Phone]

All,

 

Interesting fact: Cashews come from a fruit, which in South American countries, is eaten, and the seeds (cashews) are then thrown away. Cashews "raw" are almost always steamed so you don't get poison ivy.

 

Phone

[Ken L]

In Goa in late March and early April, it's cashew season and while they don't eat the fruit, they do smash it, ferment it and then distil it into a spirit known as fenny.

The smell of the stills is something that I will always associate with barramundi fishing.

I've drunk fenny with the locals in a tiny village and although I'd love to say it's good, the truth is that it's vile, tasting like alcoholic shampoo.

It's so bad that even the locals add sugar, salt, lime juice and soda water.

[snakey1]

In Goa in late March and early April, it's cashew season and while they don't eat the fruit, they do smash it, ferment it and then distil it into a spirit known as fenny.

The smell of the stills is something that I will always associate with barramundi fishing.

I've drunk fenny with the locals in a tiny village and although I'd love to say it's good, the truth is that it's vile, tasting like alcoholic shampoo.

It's so bad that even the locals add sugar, salt, lime juice and soda water.

I've had fenny and it's bloody awful, I seem to remember it didn't smell good either mind it was about 25 years ago so the mind may be playing tricks.

[Steve Walker]

All,

 

Interesting fact: Cashews come from a fruit, which in South American countries, is eaten, and the seeds (cashews) are then thrown away. Cashews "raw" are almost always steamed so you don't get poison ivy.

 

Phone

 

The extracted toxic oil has some uses, though - it's used to kill termites, and there is now some interest in developing pharmaceuticals from it.

[Phone]

All,

 

Don't want to hijack the wonderful thread about Steve's misery. I thought this would be appropriate in the sub content area, tasting awful.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theyre-now-making-grapefruit-flavored-hard-cider-2018-04-13?siteid=rss&rss=1

 

Phone

[Steve Walker]

We have a lot of flavoured ciders here. I dont much like them!

 

https://groceries.asda.com/shelf/cider/flavoured-cider/_/102516