FRUIT & SEED OF THE CASHEW TREE
While the cashew plant is native to northeast Brazil, the Portuguese took it to Goa, India, between 1560 and 1565. From there it spread throughout Southeast Asia and eventually Africa. The English name 'Cashew' is derived from the Portugese name 'Caju', its called 'Acaju' in Brazil, 'Merey' in Venenzuala, 'Cajuil' in Spanish and 'Decajou' in French. The cashew seed, often simply called a cashew, is widely consumed. It is eaten on its own, used in recipes, or processed into cashew cheese or cashew butter. The cashew apple is a light reddish to yellow fruit, whose pulp is processed into a sweet, astringent fruit drink or distilled into liquor and known in known in Goa as 'Caju Feni'. This photo is not from a farm or plantation, but from the 'El-Kays' garden in Parra, Goa.