Nowadays, people around the world demanding more quality and variety of food products and companies have been innovating more options for their customers.
Years ago, cashew nuts were mostly used as a plain nut for consumption. On the other hand, today we can find different types of products derived from cashew.
Recently, cashews have become popular throughout the world for a good reason: their special flavour and extraordinary health benefits. Cashews are a good vegetarian source of copper, providing more of the mineral than most other non-meat sources. The nuts contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, including oleic and palmitoleic acids. They are not only highly nutritious but also remarkably versatile.
Cashew nuts are native to Brazil and imported by the Portuguese to West Africa. There it became a widely grown tree and currently, Nigeria is third in the world by Cashew production, following after Vietnam and India in first positions
Nowadays, people around the world demanding more quality and variety of food products and companies have been innovating more options for their customers.
Years ago, cashew nuts were mostly used as a plain nut for consumption. On the other hand, today we can find different types of products derived from cashew.
Recently, cashews have become popular throughout the world for a good reason: their special flavour and extraordinary health benefits. Cashews are a good vegetarian source of copper, providing more of the mineral than most other non-meat sources. The nuts contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, including oleic and palmitoleic acids. They are not only highly nutritious but also remarkably versatile.
Cashew nuts are native to Brazil and imported by the Portuguese to West Africa. There it became a widely grown tree and currently, Nigeria is third in the world by Cashew production, following after Vietnam and India in first positions (source).
CASHEW NUT PRODUCTS
1. Snacks 🍿
Cashew nuts are considered a healthier alternative to other savoury snacks, such as crisps and extruded snacks, and more beneficial to health than peanuts in most major consuming countries. It is possible to purchase raw, roasted, or cashews that have been seasoned with various savoury or sweet flavourings (chilli, paprika, honey, spicy and sweet and etc.).
2. Food ingredients 🥜
Moreover, Cashew nuts are also an ingredient in various foods and functional food products, such as breakfast cereals, fruit and nut bars, and chocolate products with cashew nuts. In addition, they go well as an addition to salads, smoothies, stir-fries, and other dishes used to enrich the meal
3. Cashew Milk 🥛
In the age where diary consumption causes more and more allergies, is not suitable for vegans and other types of common diets – cashew nut products are a good diary replacement. One of them is Cashew milk. It is a dairy-free product perfect for coffee, cereals, smoothies, soups, sauces, and more.
4. Cashew Butter 🥃
Similar to peanut butter, cashew butter contains a lot of healthy fats. It has a little high concentration of monounsaturated fat compared to peanut butter. Cashew butter contains high concentrations of iron, magnesium, vitamin B6, and calcium. The butter is usually made from raw or baked cashews, and it has a rich creamy flavour. Raw cashew butter seems to be better at retaining all the nutritional properties of the cashews after processing, so it is advisable to opt for that variant.
5. Cashew Cheese 🧀
Cashew cheese can be in various forms: soft cheese to use as a bread spread or hard cheese as well. It remains purely vegan and can meet many diet requirements eaten as a healthy snack with olives and grapes or topping for sandwiches, toasts, and pizzas.
6. Cashew Cream 🍦
Cashew cream has a usual consistency of regular cream and can be added to a variety of sweet or savoury dishes as a healthy vegan substitute for heavy whipping cream. Foods that use cream are ice cream, many sauces, soups, stews, puddings, and some custard bases, and is also used for cakes.
7. Cashew Yoghurt 🍨
The benefits of cashew yoghurt come from friendly probiotic bacteria and the cashews themselves. It is made from unsalted raw cashew, has lower sugar, and many health benefits.
8. Medicine 💊
People also use the nut to make medicine. Cashew is used for stomach and intestinal (gastrointestinal) disorders. Some people apply cashew directly to the skin as a skin stimulant and to seal (cauterize) ulcers, warts, and corns .
9. Cashew powder 🧂
Cashew powder is popular in gluten-free cooking and baking. It can easily replace almond flour and be used in cookies, muffins, and quick bread. Cashew flour is already sweet by nature and it doesn’t have the bitterness that almonds can have.
10. Cashew oil 🧴
Cashew oil is recognized as extremely top-quality cooking oil, and it is also frequently regarded as healthier than other types of cooking oil. These types of exotic nuts are very first shelled and dried. The skins are then taken out, and the nuts are pressed to produce the oil .
11. Cashew skin cream 💦
Cashews are known as acne-fighting nutrients. These nuts are high in selenium, which acts as an antioxidant with vitamin E, leaving hydrated skin and reduced inflammation. Moisturizing cream brings condition and protection to skin and hair
