What about the fruit?

 

A few months (years, maybe) ago I discovered what cashew nuts look like growing on the cashew tree.  If you don't know, look below.  If you do know, good for you!

It's a bit complicated how they actually grow, so I recommend Wikipedia.  The fleshy yellow thing above the nut is called the "cashew apple".  It's a pseudocarp, or false fruit. But it is edible.  

I remembered that when I decided to post about this, but even though I knew it was edible, I didn't know how it was used in food products.  So Wikipedia told me:

"The mature cashew apple can be eaten fresh, cooked in curries, or fermented into vinegar, citric acid, or an alcoholic drink. It is also used to make preserves, chutneys, and jams in some countries, such as India and Brazil. In many countries, particularly in South America, the cashew apple is used to flavor drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic. In Brazil, cashew fruit juice and fruit pulp are used to make sweets, and juice mixed with alcoholic beverages such as cachaça, and as flour, milk, or cheese. In Panama, the cashew fruit is cooked with water and sugar for a prolonged time to make a sweet, brown, paste-like dessert called dulce de marañón (marañón being a Spanish name for cashew). Cashew apple juice, however, may be used for manufacturing blended juices such as cajuína."

Now I want to see what it tastes like, but I don't have any travel to Brazil planned. Or Vietnam.

Cashew harvesting and processing:

I watched a couple of other videos before deciding on this one to share. It's clear from watching a couple of these videos that cashew farming is difficult and arduous work. Which we rarely think about as we enjoy a handful of nuts or enjoy products like cashew butter.  (I've heard that it's possible to make cashew "milk" and then use it to make a dairy-free alfredo sauce, but I haven't looked it up to verify and make.