Nuts & Seeds

Orleander said:
so just one cashew per fruit? And its inside a shell, not just hanging there? damn, no wonder they are expensive.

so why don't they leave it in the shell when they sell it like the pistachio?
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Because the oil in the shell is highly toxic. It will take your skin off if gets to your skin. The oil is also flammable. One way to roast them is to collect a bunch of whole seeds and light a fire. When the fire subsides, you can dowse the amber and when cool, open the shell...yum...yum...

Commercial roasters remove the shel with machine and roast them like any other nut. In America people dark roast everything, so they taste really bad. Walmart sells Harmony Cashews that is roasted properly than the Planters kind. Also Costco sells Fancy Indian Cashews that is yum...yum...

Roasted peanuts should be eaten just blanched (san boiling water) to maintain the flavor. Chinese and Indian do it very well. Not sure Brazillians...
 
Billy, you could well be right about that. I was trying to point out the inconsistancy in our labling so if my labling is wrong and they should all be berries then im not going to be offeneded

SAM, i just have to ask this. Is there ANYTHING which doesnt taste better with a little chilli?:p
 
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Other interesting tropical fruits

Jack Fruit - Artocarpus heterophyllus

jackfruit2.jpg


Lychee - Litchi chinensis

lychee.jpg


Sugar Apple -

sugar_apple3.jpg


I have eaten several different fruits in Mexico, but do not know the name. When I identify...will post it....
 
Asguard said:
SAM, i just have to ask this. Is there ANYTHING which doesnt taste better with a little chilli?:p
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Heh! We like our fruit salads spicy. Indian stores carry a fruit salad seasoning with black salt and other hot and sour spices.

Its called chaat masala. :D
 
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When Chaat Masala hits the fruits...it has that mild pungent odor...once aquired is really great....just enough not to overpower the fruit's original taste....

typically consisting of amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, black salt, coriander, dried ginger, salt, black pepper, asafoetida (that gives that odor) but good for the body (anti-gas).
 
kmguru said:
In America people dark roast everything, so they taste really bad. Walmart sells Harmony Cashews that is roasted properly than the Planters kind. Also Costco sells Fancy Indian Cashews that is yum...yum...
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Trader Joe's sells raw nuts. Most of them are pretty tasty that way.
 
two notes on photos in post 23:

The first is really large - basket ball size, or sometimes even bigger, and grows on trees.

the third is called "pinga" or something like than here in Brazil. It is quite tasty. You break it apart (just a gentile tug with your fingers) and eat the white pulp cells inside. (Individually, they are about the size of a kernel of corn.) Each contains a black seed as I recall - have not eaten one for a few months, they tend to be expensive, but not terribly so - cost like strawberries / per kilo. There is also a layer of that white pulp a few mm thick lining the inside of the outer part you see in the photo - it is seed free and the best part. You scrape it off with spoon or your front top inciser teeth.
 
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kmguru said:
Because the oil in the shell is highly toxic. It will take your skin off if gets to your skin. ......
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makes me wonder how they ever decided they couild eat them then. If somethign takes off my skin, I'm not gonna touch it to try and figure out how I can eat it.
 
Orleander said:
makes me wonder how they ever decided they couild eat them then. If somethign takes off my skin, I'm not gonna touch it to try and figure out how I can eat it.
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Mesolithic hunter-gatherers had very little in the way of food preservation technology. There was no impetus to develop it since they had to carry everything they owned on their long treks without the help of domesticated animals. So in a bad year you can bet that they'd thoroughly investigate any possible food source.
 
Orleander said:
makes me wonder how they ever decided they couild eat them then. If somethign takes off my skin, I'm not gonna touch it to try and figure out how I can eat it.
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It is not like Nitric Acid. It takes a few days for the skin to peel off. Mildly painful if you have a sensitive skin. Less problematic than Sumac, and other itchy vines. The first group probably did not know the effects...but the seed tastes so good...so they must have figured out how to eat. The mango stem liquid can also cause blisters in the mouth (lip area) for some people...

During the hunter-gatherer days, people probably tried all fruits and nuts. In India, people usually sun-dry the fruit juices such as Mango and Berry juices during the growing season and eat throughout the year. Also they pickle assorted fruits and vegetables...
 
Billy T said:
The first is really large - basket ball size, or sometimes even bigger, and grows on trees.

the third is called "pinga" or something like than here in Brazil. ..
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All these fruits taste great. There is a fruit, I can not find the pictures...it looks like Sapote...could be "Sapote" or Sapote family....with a brown outer shell, a long dark brown seed, orange to brown pulp....similar to the picture here.

270px-Mamey.jpg
 
Orleander said:
Improves memory? Who are you again? Oh, and nice sig line. I hate you. :p
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I GOT BON JOVI TICKETS !!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

jealous much??? goodie!

best pressie ever, yes better than my kids!!

------------------

sorry back on topic!
 
kmguru said:
...
270px-Mamey.jpg
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I do not recognize that one -looks good. Perhaps it is variant of papya?
We have a really strange one in Brazil - very hard dark shell sort of the shape of a 3inch long lima bean. Inside there is nothing but a fine dry white powder - tastes ok, but I do not like very dry things in my mouth. Does not seem to have any seeds, unless that dry powder is some sort of spoors.
 
Orleander said:
how do you sun-dry juice? :confused:
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You take the ripe fruit such as Mango, take the juice out to a pitcher. Get a metal baking sheet and grease as if you are going to bake. Pour the juice to say quarter inch thick. Put it out in the sun. Bring it at night and put it out in the sun next day. It may take 3 days for the juice to dry in a tropical or high moisture area. For protection from birds etc, you can cover it with a screen...

Alternately...in dry zones such as Utah, Colorado....use an electric dryer....

You get the idea...
 
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