| |
Cashews
are truly an international nut, grown on three continents and in both
northern and southern hemispheres. Native to Brazil, the cashew was
introduced to India and East Africa in the 16th century. It is a tree
that is indigenous to the jungle, and thrives in tropical climates. Many
cashew trees produce nuts for 15 to 20 years or more. Yields vary, with
the maturity of the tree, from about 70-200 pounds of nuts per tree.
Bloom in India is from mid-December to early February, with harvest
following in March and April. At harvest the tree drops its fruit,
called “apples”, on the ground. The whole nuts are attached to the
base of the “apples”, and are removed by hand from the fruit. The
cashew kernels are obtained by cleaning, shelling, drying, peeling,
grading, and packing the raw nuts. Kernels must have characteristic
shape and be reasonably dry. Insect damage, black spots and residual
testa should not be evident. Rancid kernels must not be present.
| VARIETIES: |
Cashews are classified
according to origin, i.e. African, Indian, Brazilian, Vietnamese, etc. |
| SIZES: |
All whole grades
(450-160/180 count), pieces, butts, splits. Additional sizes,
beyond the typical ones, are available for specific
requirements, usually by the bakery or confectionery trades.
These include but are not limited to: “Baby Bits” (BB’s -
smaller than SWP’s); “Grains” (G-1's and G-2's); and
“Special Small Pieces” (SSP-1's and SSP-2's). |
| GRADES: |
"Light" --
White, pale ivory or light ash in color; "Scorched" --
Light brown, light ivory, light ash or deep ivory in color due
to overheating in the shelling process |
|
|
