Cashew

When I lived in Torti, Panama, I had a cashew tree in my yard at the Cottage. The fruit is likely the oddest looking nut there is. It hangs down from a seedless fruit that looks like a small pear, when ripe, making the cashew nut/seed external to the fruit.

This pod is detached from the fruit and an outer gum-filled covering is removed from the nut itself. With great difficulty, since the gum is really nasty, not water soluble - I had to use turpentine to remove it from my fingers. Then there is an inner peel, that only comes off when dried. Then, the beans must be roasted.

So, next time you raise a handful of those delicious nuts to your mouth, please give a little Thanks for all the work that went into putting them there. Please.