[sawnee]

Just remembered have got a huge bag of cashew nut in the cupboard :shock:
Was given them a while ago, they came from Africa and are in a sealed bag, I was told to "cook" them before eating them
I googled cashew nuts and scared myself (they can be very toxic) :shock:
Anyone know what to do with them  :?:

[WG.]

Roast them carefully and season with smoked salt.  Yummy.

Toxic?  Why not post a link or two for us please.

[mashauk]

Chuck a handful in a stir fry, at the end, yum.

[gobs]

I read about this a long while ago, so can't remember much detail, they are indeed toxic, but they are treated before sold, so you should be OK.

[mushroom]

I read about this a long while ago, so can't remember much detail, they are indeed toxic, but they are treated before sold, so you should be OK.

They were bought in Africa, not here, so probably not treated.. And she was told to cook them before eating.

http://www.detoxyourworld.com/acatalog/cashews.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashew
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/rawcashew.html

are they in their shells?

[gobs]

Apologies to all, I've completely missed the Africa bit. :oops:

[milkman]

it may be safer just to compost them then.

[WG.]

If they were sold in Africa as a food product then I reckon they'll be no more toxic here than they were in Africa.  I'd be looking to roast 'em and eat 'em.  

[gobs]

On the basis of info we have got, they might as well be from someone's back garden.

If contaminated, not the end of the world, but need to get proper info about min temperature, may be cooking/roasting time and also not to be handled bare skin. Just in case.

Unlikely, they would be in the shells, but then I really would not bother.


Also, does anybody know how long they store and if that is affected by shell/no shell, treated/not treated, etc.

[sawnee]

The cashews are not in their shells, BUT on the bottom of the bag it says RAW
So think it best if they go in the bin.

[WG.]

Your call but Mushy's link above explains that raw usually means cooked.

[gobs]

I beg to disagree, not for proper knowledge or the sake of it, but we are talking place of growing here, raw, might well mean, raw.

I think it's quite possible they were shelled by cracking, hence the cook it advice and raw label. When they are treated they are heat treated, so cooking is the way.

I just honestly do not know the proper procedure for this and the shelf life of them in such a condition.

Here is one remotely related article I found about the processing involved.

LINK

[Sally A]

Don't bin them - put them in Swap Shop and see who's brave enough!

Personally I reckon you can cook most bugs out of anything, hence my black crispy sausages, I'd risk it cos I love Cashews.

[sawnee]

Bit of a big gamble :?
Quite like the life I've got, dont fancy trying out the reincarnation theory

[Sally A]

Bear in mind though that there is toxic and there's TOXIC!

Red kidney beans can be toxic, as can alcohol, peanuts, too many carrots.

It might be a dicky tum or it could be death - I've never heard of death by cashew.