Cashew Roasting with Gomier in Belize
With such an abundance of food-producing plants here in the Toledo district, there is always a new food experience to be had. Gomier is an old friend from previous visits, and the proprietor and chef at his small restaurant by the sea (here's a nice piece about him from the Esperanza Project). He prepares vegetarian and fish-based dishes, and is often credited with providing some of the best meals available in Punta Gorda.
With my friend Jillian from Remedia (soon to be Enduring Culture), I was lucky to get together with Gomier for a lesson in preparing cashews. It's a fairly simple process, but unique and fun in its own way. Best of all is at the end you have cashews to munch on!
These are the raw cashews in their shell. Raw cashews contain a toxin related to poison ivy which can be removed by fire...
With the help from a fire below, the cashews slowly catch on fire and blacken. Beware of the smoke ~ as I learned over the next few weeks, the toxin is burned off and present in the smoke. An unpleasant rash, very similar to poison ivy, results ~ for me the rashes lasted for about two weeks.
This is Gomier handling the burning cashews. Here, he is removing them from the fire, as they are now burning on their own.
With his tough bare hands, Gomier pats out the burning cashews. You need to be careful not to burn the nuts all the way through, or the nuts that you seek will be burned as well!
The resulting pile of burned cashews, and the beginning of the de-shelling process. Your hands turn black, and sometimes the nuts crumble apart, but with careful attention, the yummy sweetness of cashews begin to fill your bowl.
Time to snack! Our take of edible cashews was small, although I'm not sure if the take would ever be big enough. Thanks Gomier for this fun food adventure!
With my friend Jillian from Remedia (soon to be Enduring Culture), I was lucky to get together with Gomier for a lesson in preparing cashews. It's a fairly simple process, but unique and fun in its own way. Best of all is at the end you have cashews to munch on!
These are the raw cashews in their shell. Raw cashews contain a toxin related to poison ivy which can be removed by fire...
With the help from a fire below, the cashews slowly catch on fire and blacken. Beware of the smoke ~ as I learned over the next few weeks, the toxin is burned off and present in the smoke. An unpleasant rash, very similar to poison ivy, results ~ for me the rashes lasted for about two weeks.
This is Gomier handling the burning cashews. Here, he is removing them from the fire, as they are now burning on their own.
With his tough bare hands, Gomier pats out the burning cashews. You need to be careful not to burn the nuts all the way through, or the nuts that you seek will be burned as well!
The resulting pile of burned cashews, and the beginning of the de-shelling process. Your hands turn black, and sometimes the nuts crumble apart, but with careful attention, the yummy sweetness of cashews begin to fill your bowl.
Time to snack! Our take of edible cashews was small, although I'm not sure if the take would ever be big enough. Thanks Gomier for this fun food adventure!
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