know - FoodNerdy Recipes Management System

Potato varieties come in many colors and shapes. They differ in terms of ripening time and purpose. This article gives you an overview of the common varieties. We also introduce you to old potato varieties.

Waxy potato varieties

Waxy potatoes contain less starch than floury potatoes. This means that the tubers keep their shape even when cooked. Waxy potatoes are particularly good for:
fried potatoes
potato salad
potato gratin
These waxy potato varieties are particularly popular:
Linda: The potato variety is known for its good shelf life. Despite its firm consistency, it has a soft and creamy taste.
Sieglinde: The early potato variety forms elongated to oval tubers. The skin is yellow and smooth, while the flesh is considered to be particularly flavorful. The Sieglinde has a long tradition in Germany and is particularly popular here.
Nicola: The variety was named Potato Variety of the Year in 2016. It tastes slightly sweet and yet earthy. Their elongated tubers are among the medium-early potatoes.
La Ratte: The French variety impresses with its fine nutty taste. La Ratte is one of the medium-early varieties and stands out because of its squishy, croissant-shaped tuber. It is traditionally used for gratins.

Predominantly waxy potato varieties

Predominantly waxy potatoes burst easily when cooked and are slightly softer than waxy potatoes. They are especially useful for
Boiled and boiled potatoes
fries
baked potatoes
These varieties are among the predominantly waxy potatoes:
Granola: The round to oval tubers are typically yellow in color. The medium-early variety was voted Potato Variety of the Year in 2014.
Laura: The skin of the potato variety is red, while the flesh is yellow. It is particularly popular because of its strong taste.
Bintje: Characteristic of this medium-early variety are its mild, creamy taste and its typically long-oval tubers.
Red Emmalie: The potato of the year 2018 is characterized by its red flesh and skin. It was bred by organic farmer Karsten Ellenberg and is said to be easy to grow. The early variety has a spicy taste and a fine consistency.

Floury potato varieties

Floury potato varieties have the highest starch content. As a result, they are significantly softer after cooking and can be easily mashed with a fork. The tubers of floury varieties are often significantly larger than those of waxy varieties. Floury potatoes are best suited for these dishes:
Mashed potatoes
Soup
potato pancakes
gnocchi
The following varieties are floury potato varieties:
Augusta: The early potato variety has round to oval tubers, while the skin is rather rough. The taste is mild and aromatic. The variety stores well.
Alma: The Alma is particularly striking because of its particularly light, almost white flesh. It is also particularly productive.
Agria: The variety is cultivated particularly frequently in Germany. It is one of the medium-early varieties and can be stored well.
Gala: The variety is one of the early potato varieties. Their yellow flesh is considered particularly aromatic. The tubers are round to oval and have a fine skin.

Old potato varieties

Old potato varieties have been forgotten more and more over time. The varieties are usually not particularly lucrative for conventional cultivation, as they require more care and yield less. In recent years, however, some farmers and organic farms have tried to preserve old potato varieties.

Like other varieties of potatoes, old varieties are divided according to the degree of ripeness and purpose. You often come across old varieties, especially at markets and in farm shops. If you plant old potatoes in your own garden, you can help preserve variety by choosing old varieties. You can buy the seeds for this from some clubs and organic farms.

Here are a few old potato varieties:
Bamberger Hörnchen: The variety is also called Bamberger Krumbeere and is one of the medium-late varieties. The squirrels are easily recognizable by their characteristic shape and yellow-pink skin. The potato variety is one of the waxy potatoes.
Highland Burgundy Red: The Scottish potato variety is considered a rarity, although it has been around since the beginning of the 20th century. The floury potato is particularly noticeable because of its red flesh and oval shape. It is one of the medium late varieties.
Mecklenburg pinto: The exotic rarity comes from Mecklenburg. The variety is oval and oblong in shape. While their skin is dark purple, the flesh is white and blue veined. The taste is reminiscent of chestnuts.
Vitelotte: The Vitelotte is one of the purple potatoes and is characterized by its elongated shape and dark skin. The blue and white marbled flesh has a strong and bitter taste.

health

Calcium Sulfate (E 516): What You Need to Know About The Additive

Calcium sulphate is a versatile additive in food, in the construction industry and in medicine. We explain to you what it can do and whether it is dangerous to your health.

Calcium sulfate (E 516) is a chemical compound of calcium and sulfur (CaSO4) that is used as an additive in the food industry, among other things. Calcium sulfate is a natural component of food that is added to other foods.

Calcium sulphate is necessary to make gypsum. Calcium sulphate is therefore also an important substance in the construction industry.

There is not a large production of calcium sulphate, as the substance is a by-product in industry:

As a by-product in the production of tartaric acid (contained in grapes and in wine, also known as an additive under E 334)
In the production of citric acid (contained in various citrus fruits, known as E 330)
As a dihydrate (gypsum) in wastewater treatment processes (part of the “hardness” in calcareous, hard water)

Calcium sulphate (E516) and its uses

Uses in the food industry:
Baking mixes: Here, the calcium sulphate has the task of an acidity regulator, stabilizer and firming agent for the dough. It also promotes the proliferation of yeast cultures in bread.
Canned: Again, it acts as a firming agent for tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beans, and peppers.
It is a carrier, for example for food coloring.
Tofu: Calcium sulfate is often used as a coagulant for tofu and makes it sliceable. Meanwhile, many manufacturers also use Epsom salt or Kombucha mushroom.
Dietary supplements: Some industrial foods – especially those for children – advertise as “extra calcium”. Since the body absorbs calcium sulfate very easily, many manufacturers add it to foods such as cornflakes. It’s a good source of calcium. Nevertheless, many of these industrial foods are not healthy because they contain a lot of sugar and other unhealthy additives.

Further use:
Building Materials Sector: Calcium sulphate is an important raw material in the construction industry as it becomes gypsum in its water crystalline form. Areas of application include the production and processing of tiles, plaster, plasterboard and stucco.
Drying agent in chemical laboratories: Since it is very inexpensive and versatile, it is used to dry organic solvents.
Medicine & Periodontology: Calcium sulphate has long been used in dentistry and jaw surgery to regenerate bone and tissue. With its help, sinus lifts can be carried out and dental implants inserted.

Food

Are Oreos Vegan? What You Need to Know

Are Oreos vegan? This question is often discussed among vegans and there is still disagreement about the popular biscuits. We have summarized for you what you should know about it.

Are Oreos vegan? A look at the ingredient list

Even if the cookie cream suggests milk, it is often claimed that Oreos are vegan. To find out if that’s true, we took a closer look at the ingredient list of the popular biscuits:
wheat flour
sugar
Palm oil
rapeseed oil
low-fat cocoa powder 4.5%
wheat starch
Glucose-Fructose Syrup
Raising agents (potassium carbonates, ammonium carbonates, sodium carbonates)
salt
Emulsifiers (soy lecithin, sunflower lecithin)
Aroma
At first glance, the cookies appear to contain neither dairy nor eggs. Nevertheless, at the end of the list it says: May contain milk.

Critical ingredients of the vegan Oreos

While many vegans may be happy that Oreos are vegan, the list of ingredients is no cause for celebration. Vegan does not mean healthy. The popular biscuits consist mainly of wheat flour, sugar and fat. Artificial flavorings are also buried.

From a health point of view, the biscuits are not recommended for regular consumption. This does not only apply to Oreos, however. According to the vegan food pyramid, you should consciously consume sweets, snacks and alcohol as little as possible and in small amounts. Consume a maximum of one small portion per day

The palm oil contained in the vegan Oreos should not only be viewed critically from a health perspective. During production, rainforest is often destroyed by slash and burn, with no regard for the animals that live there and the impact on our climate.

If you don’t want to use questionable ingredients, it’s best to bake your sweet temptations yourself. This way you can rely on high-quality, organic ingredients and know exactly what’s in your sweets.

Food

Panela: This is What You Should Know About The Sugar Alternative

Panela – Healthy, Nutritious Sugar Alternative or Unfounded Hype? Here you can find out everything you need to know about the sweetener from Latin America.

What is Panela?

Panela is a caramel-colored sugar mass that is an everyday staple in the sugar cane-growing regions of Central and South America. In these regions it is also known as panocha, raspadura, piloncillo, tapa dulce or chancaca. Similar sugar products are also widely available in Asian and African countries, such as gur in India, gula melaka in Malaysia and kokuto in Japan.

Latin American panela is made from sugar cane juice, which is boiled in copper kettles at high temperatures to form a viscous molasses. This then hardens at cooler temperatures and is then cut into smaller portions.

The difference to the white granulated sugar that is common in Europe is that the vitamins and minerals are retained in Panela because it is not refined. In contrast, conventional industrial sugar from sugar beets is deprived of all its nutrients by a centrifugal processing method. That’s why panela has a reputation for being healthier than granulated sugar.

Panela vs. Industrial Sugar: Is Panela Healthy?

It is now widely known that sugar is not exactly healthy. Normal industrial sugar is suspected of drastically increasing the risk of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, liver and kidney damage and cancer. Panela, on the other hand, is now being hailed as a healthy alternative. But is the sweetener from Latin America really that much healthier?

It is true that panela contains more nutrients than regular sugar. The sugar alternative contains, for example, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and calcium as well as vitamin B6 – but only in small amounts. In order to get enough nutrients from eating panela, you would have to eat a lot of it.

Panela is also said to support healthy digestion. However, there are no scientific studies to prove this.

Bottom Line: Panela is a bit healthier than industrial sugar as it contains some vitamins and minerals. Compared to other foods such as vegetables or legumes, however, the nutrient content is negligible. Other health-promoting effects of the sugar alternative have not been proven. Ultimately, panela is still mostly sugar and should only be consumed in moderation.

What you can use Panela for

Since panela has a similar consistency to regular sugar and one gram of panela is exactly one gram of sugar, you can use it in baking or cooking just like white sugar. The taste of Panela has a fruity-caramel note. Panela is therefore particularly suitable for baking cakes and biscuits and for preparing desserts.

Panela: What you should consider

When buying, you should definitely pay attention to organic quality for two reasons: On the one hand, you support the ecologically sustainable cultivation of sugar cane and do something good for the environment. On the other hand, you can be sure that the farmers have produced the Panela under fair working conditions.

Food

Pea Milk: Instructions and Things to Know About Milk Substitutes

An exciting vegan trend is “pea milk”: The vegan milk substitute is gluten-free, lactose-free and uses less water in production. But how sustainable is the alternative really?

Milk substitutes for people with food allergies or vegan lifestyles are made from a variety of plants: soy, almonds, hemp, rice, oats and some other grains and nuts. But another alternative has been conquering the market for a number of years: pea milk.

Pea milk: what is it actually?

The milk alternative is therefore a highly processed product made from many, albeit organically produced, ingredients. Pure pea milk (original or original without sugar) is a creamy, white or yellow liquid that looks and tastes almost like cow’s milk. And thanks to the peas, it’s relatively sweet even without the added sugar.

The vegan milk substitute made from peas is free of lactose, gluten, soy, nuts and GMOs, contains no milk protein or and, according to Ripple, can help reduce the ecological footprint through sustainable production.

Pea milk as a milk substitute: the nutritional values

When it comes to nutritional values, pea milk clearly trumps, not least thanks to the many added substances. With a protein content of 8 grams per 240 ml for Ripple Milk, 8 grams per 250 ml for Princess and the Pea, the vegan milk substitute contains about as much protein per liter as cow’s milk (3-3.4 grams per 100 ml).

In the unsweetened version, however, milk from peas only has 70 kcal per glass, while low-fat milk has around 86 kcal. However, the sweetened variant already has 100 kcal, vanilla 130 (unsweetened 80) and chocolate 150 kcal. That’s a lot compared to other milk alternatives, but they contain far less protein and calcium.

Make pea milk yourself: this is how it works

The preparation of pea milk is similar to that of other plant drinks. You need for this:

100 g yellow split peas
500 ml water plus water for soaking
optionally 5 dates or 10 ml liquid stevia to sweeten
Then you do the following:

Soak the split peas in enough water overnight.
Rinse them off with fresh water the next day.
Place the soaked peas in a blender with 1/2 cup of fresh tap water. You can now add dates or stevia for more sweetness. Blend everything until you get a homogeneous mass.
Filter the pea drink through a nut milk bag or a fine cloth.
Store the liquid in the refrigerator. If deposits form, simply shake the pea milk again.
Note: The homemade pea drink tastes different than the commercial products as it is much less processed. Therefore, test with a smaller amount to see if you like the pea milk.

Pea milk and other plant-based milks

By the way: According to EU legislation, suppliers are not allowed to speak of “pea milk” because the term “milk” is reserved for animal milk from cows, sheep, goats or horses. In German trade, the milk substitute is therefore referred to as a pea drink or pea drink. But that only applies to manufacturers: In this article, we use the term “pea milk” as it is used by normal consumers.

Food

Preserve Diversity: You Should Know These 7 Old Types of Vegetables

How many types of tomatoes are there in your supermarket? And how many purple carrots? The variety of our vegetables had to give way to industrialized agriculture a long time ago. Only what yields as much yield as possible is bred. Old vegetable varieties, on the other hand, are being forgotten. Or do you know Bamberger Hörnchen, Mairübe or Purple Dragon?

With the original diversity of fruit and vegetable varieties, varieties that are particularly well adapted to certain locations, that are pest-resistant, robust and of course particularly tasty are simply lost – irretrievably. At least if no one “saves” the seeds of the old vegetable varieties.

The yellow beets

Beetroot has made a successful comeback in recent years – and is even revered as a superfood. But who knows their relative, the yellow beet? As the name suggests, the bulbs are bright yellow, have a pleasantly fruity flavor and are slightly milder and sweeter than most beets. By the way, there are also white and white-beetroot. The colorful tubers are prepared just like the well-known beetroot, all of which are available regionally from September to April. Recommendation: prepare yellow and beetroot separately, otherwise the red color of the yellow root will steal the show…

Old potato variety: the Bamberger Hörnchen

It is quite possible that you have previously known exactly two types of potatoes: firm and mealy. There are a multitude of different varieties – from thick to thin, small to large, round to curved, in yellow, red, black and blue, with such beautiful names as Ackersegen, Rosa Tannenspitzen or Black Ungarin.

The Bamberger Hörnchen (also Bamberger Hörnle, Barmberger Hörnla) is an almost forgotten local variety and as such a “passenger” in the Ark of Taste. The tubers are thin, about a finger long and slightly curved. They have light yellow flesh, a firm consistency and a fine, slightly nutty taste. Because cultivation under conventional conditions is uneconomical, the “Bamberger Hörnchen” is only occasionally cultivated – but the tubers can be found at some weekly markets. If you discover them, you should definitely taste them and thus contribute to their preservation

Old vegetable variety: the May turnip

May turnips (also: navette) are – the name gives it away – mainly available in May and well into June. But: You can also buy the white turnips in autumn. For a long time, turnips were supplanted by potatoes, and it’s only been a few years since they’ve been found more frequently at weekly markets and in greengrocers’ shops. The taste of the beets is reminiscent of radishes or radishes, but they are milder. You can eat everything from the leaves to the tuber – for example raw in a salad, boiled in salt water until soft or fried and glazed.

The purple carrot: Purple Dragon

Surprise: Not all carrots are just orange. There are several old and rare varieties in white, yellow and purple – such as this one with the beautiful name Purple Dragon: purple on the outside, bright orange on the inside. “It has a fine, sweet-aromatic taste and is fast-growing, so very late sowings are still possible,” writes the Arche Noah association. You can find the purple carrots at weekly markets or at greengrocers.

Also an old vegetable: the parsnip

Although the parsnip has recently resurfaced from near oblivion, it is still a long way from being represented in all supermarkets. Parsnips were an important food for a long time – only with the discovery of potatoes did they go out of fashion. However, the root vegetables can be found at many weekly markets and in organic shops. The root is a typical winter vegetable and is available regionally from October to March. It tastes a bit like carrot, but milder, sweeter, and a little bit nutty. Parsnips can be prepared like carrots and potatoes: boiled, baked in a casserole or as “fries” in the oven (very tasty!), fried, made into a puree or soup.

Rare tomato varieties: Black Cherry, Goldita and Little Red Riding Hood

It is estimated that there are several thousand different tomato varieties. Not all of them are red and round: Tomatoes range from small as berries to as big as grapefruit – in red, yellow, orange, green, purple, black, patterned and striped, round, oval, smooth and ribbed… At weekly markets , in vegetable and organic shops you can increasingly find different tomato varieties, including old ones.

Rare Vegetable: Wild Rocket

… doesn’t sound quite as elegant as arugula, but it’s basically the same thing. The only difference is that wild rocket has a much more intense taste and is a little tart than salad rocket (that’s what we usually buy as rocket). Wild rocket tastes delicious in a salad, but also in mixed vegetables, with pasta or on pizza. You can easily grow wild rocket yourself – even in the window box. It is perennial and with a bit of luck you can even harvest twice a season.

Food

Persipan: Difference to Marzipan and What You Should Know

Persipan is a common marzipan substitute based on apricot or peach stones. If you like buying ready-made dominoes or studs during the Christmas season, you’ve probably come across Persipan.

Marzipan is found in many popular sweets – the sweet ingredient with the subtle bitter note is often used, especially at Christmas time.

Use of Persipan and how to recognize it

Persipan tastes a little stronger than marzipan and can be used in the same way. The marzipan substitute is mainly used in industrial pastries. You will often find it in stollen and dominoes as well as other Christmas cookies.

According to the guiding principle for fine baked goods, manufacturers must label the use of Persipan. For example, the addition “with Persipan” can appear on the product.

But you can always look at the list of ingredients for marzipan baked goods: the higher up the list of ingredients almonds are, the higher the quality of the marzipan used is likely to be. Some manufacturers not only replace marzipan with persipan, but also add pulses to save even more money.

Persipan: Health and Sustainability

You may have heard that apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which can produce toxic hydrocyanic acid in the body. However, you can consume Persipan without hesitation – the amygdalin is removed from the apricot kernels during the production of Persipan. However, just like marzipan, you should use persipan sparingly, as the mixture is very high in sugar.

Almonds are healthy, but not very sustainable: they often come from far away and growing them uses a lot of water. No sustainability data can be found for Persipan. However, since apricot and peach stones are basically waste products, persipan is probably more sustainable than marzipan.

Of course, this also depends on where the kernels come from – you probably won’t find this out with Persipan in industrial products. In any case, it is better if you prepare your own Christmas cookies using high-quality ingredients.

Persipan is a common marzipan substitute based on apricot or peach stones. If you like buying ready-made dominoes or studs during the Christmas season, you’ve probably come across Persipan.

Marzipan is found in many popular sweets – the sweet ingredient with the subtle bitter note is often used, especially at Christmas time.

Use of Persipan and how to recognize it

Persipan tastes a little stronger than marzipan and can be used in the same way. The marzipan substitute is mainly used in industrial pastries. You will often find it in stollen and dominoes as well as other Christmas cookies.

According to the guiding principle for fine baked goods, manufacturers must label the use of Persipan. For example, the addition “with Persipan” can appear on the product.

But you can always look at the list of ingredients for marzipan baked goods: the higher up the list of ingredients almonds are, the higher the quality of the marzipan used is likely to be. Some manufacturers not only replace marzipan with persipan, but also add pulses to save even more money.

Persipan: Health and Sustainability

You may have heard that apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which can produce toxic hydrocyanic acid in the body. However, you can consume Persipan without hesitation – the amygdalin is removed from the apricot kernels during the production of Persipan. However, just like marzipan, you should use persipan sparingly, as the mixture is very high in sugar.

Almonds are healthy, but not very sustainable: they often come from far away and growing them uses a lot of water. No sustainability data can be found for Persipan. However, since apricot and peach stones are basically waste products, persipan is probably more sustainable than marzipan.

Of course, this also depends on where the kernels come from – you probably won’t find this out with Persipan in industrial products. In any case, it is better if you prepare your own Christmas cookies using high-quality ingredients.

Food

“Lupinenmilch”: Few People Know This Regional Milk Substitute

Plant-based milk substitutes are in vogue, but hardly anyone knows “lupine milk” – although it would be worth it.

Sweet lupins are old cultivated plants that used to be cultivated in the Mediterranean region as a vegetable source of protein for humans and animals. The seeds of the legumes (pulses) contain a large number of essential amino acids, which makes the protein in sweet lupins particularly valuable.

But lupine milk as a milk substitute and other lupine products can hardly be found on the market. Difficult to understand, since sweet lupins are the unknown domestic competition for soybeans – and have quite a bit ahead of them.

What exactly is lupine milk?

Since lupins are legumes, the round, pea-like seeds of the blue flowering lupine are harvested and dried for the lupine milk. To produce the lupine drink, the seeds are soaked in water for eight hours and then finely ground to create a liquid pulp, the lupine mash. This pulp is then pressed out.

The resulting liquid is the protein-rich lupine milk. The milk substitute is then either fermented or flavored, but can also be processed into lupine tofu or other lupine products.

By the way: Strictly speaking, according to EU legislation, the term “lupine milk” should not be used at all, as the term “milk” is reserved for animal milk from cows, sheep, goats or horses. We use the term in this article as most consumers use it in common parlance. The milk substitute is commercially available as a “lupine drink” or “lupine drink”.

Is lupine milk healthy?

Lupine seeds contain over 40 percent protein, more than soybeans. And this contains all the essential amino acids that are also retained in the lupine milk thanks to the very gentle processing.

The milk alternative made from lupins is therefore one of the highest quality sources of protein in a vegan diet. It is also ideal for allergy sufferers as it contains neither gluten nor lactose, milk protein or soy proteins. And also as the only source of protein, it contains little purine. Lupins are therefore also good for people who suffer from gout, for example.

The seeds also contain minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron, which are also present in lupine milk.

Food

Quorn: Everything You Should Know About The Meat Substitute

Quorn has long been known as a meat substitute in the UK. We’ll show you what’s behind the product and how to use it in the kitchen.

What is Quorn?

Quorn is designed to be as meat-like in consistency as possible. Without additives, it has a relatively neutral taste – with the help of spices and herbs, it is given a spicy, hot or fresh taste, depending on the end product.

The basis of the meat substitute are fermented mushroom threads, so-called mycelium, a special type of sac fungus. For the fermentation, the mushroom is mixed with oxygen and nitrogen as well as a glucose solution and heated. This creates protein. This fungal protein is also known under the name mycoprotein.

Not all Quorn products are vegan. In some Quorn products, egg white is added to the vegetable protein until the mass can be shaped. According to the ingredient list information, the eggs come from free-range chickens. Vegan products contain potato or pea protein instead. Depending on which product is to be created at the end, the protein mixture is also enriched with wheat flour, spices, vitamins, minerals and fats.

Quorn meat substitutes are:

Burger Patties
various nuggets and fillets
Vegetable cold cuts (e.g. ham and sausage substitutes)
shredded
fried sausage
Steaks and schnitzel (e.g. the lemon and pepper schnitzel)
hack

How healthy is Quorn?

Quorn is considered a healthier alternative to meat. It contains no cholesterol, is high in protein and low in fat. The fatty acids it contains are mostly unsaturated fatty acids. These are important for brain function and have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

In addition, Quorn products contain more fiber than animal products. These are important for a healthy digestive system because they stimulate the work of the gastrointestinal tract and serve as “food” for our intestinal flora.

The nutritional values of the meat substitute vary depending on which product you use. For example, the vegan Quorn fillets have the following nutritional values per 100 grams:

104 calories
1.4 grams fat (of which 0.3 grams saturated fat)
4.3 grams of carbohydrates
16 grams of protein
5.3 grams of fiber

The vegetarian Quorn steak with pepper offers the following nutritional values per 100 grams:

163 kilocalories
8.6 grams of fat (including 2.4 grams of saturated fat)
5.3 grams of carbohydrates
12.2 grams of protein
8.1 grams of fiber
A disadvantage of Quorn products is that they contain quite a lot of additives. Flavors are added to many products. Some foods also contain colourings, stabilizers or sugar. Also note that many products are not suitable for people with gluten allergies because they contain wheat flour or pure wheat gluten. Some products also contain milk protein and are therefore not lactose-free.

Quorn: That’s how you use it

Depending on the product, you can process Quorn in different ways. You can use steaks and sausages for a barbecue, for example. You can use the vegetarian mince to cook a meatless spaghetti bolognese or a chilli sin carne.

For example, you can serve nuggets and fillets in the classic way with homemade fries, salad and ketchup. Boiled potatoes and Kaiser vegetables make healthier side dishes. When preparing Quorn products, it is best to follow the instructions on the packaging. Usually you can decide whether you want to prepare them in the pan, on the grill or in the oven.

Food

Cashews: What You Should Know About Cashews

As healthy and tasty as cashew nuts are, there are good reasons why you should take a close look when buying the healthy nuts. You can find out everything you need to know here.

Cashews: No nuts, but kernels

From a botanical point of view, cashew nuts are not nuts: they are the kernels of the cashew tree fruit. This tree, up to 15 meters high, forms pear-shaped, thickened fruit stalks, which are referred to as cashew apples, but are only pseudofruit. Because unlike all other fruits, they do not carry their seeds inside. Instead, the actual fruits of the tree, the kidney-shaped cashew nuts, grow at the lower end of these fruit stalks. Botanically, they belong to stone fruit. The cashew nut, which is about two to three centimeters in size, is then located in the wooden shell of the stone fruit.

The cashew tree belongs to the sumac family and originally comes from Brazil. In the meantime, however, it is also at home in India, Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique. There the cashew apples are traditionally processed into juice, jam or schnapps for the domestic market, while the cashew nuts in particular are prepared for export all over the world.

Small kernels with a lot of power: cashews are so healthy

Cashew nuts are not only popular because of their mild, nutty, slightly buttery aroma and their pleasantly soft yet crunchy consistency. They are also rich in vital substances and nutrients:

Cashew nuts contain a lot of high-quality vegetable protein. There are 18 grams of protein in 100 grams of seeds. Cashew nuts are a very good source of protein, especially for people who do not eat animal proteins.
They contain many unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system and can help regulate high cholesterol levels. Compared to other nuts, however, cashew nuts are relatively low in fat and therefore have fewer calories.
Cashews are very good sources of magnesium and phosphorus. Magnesium and phosphorus are important minerals for our muscles, nerves, heart, teeth and bones.
They contain a lot of tryptophan. This is an amino acid from which the body produces the messenger substance serotonin, which is also known colloquially as the happiness hormone. Among other things, it has antidepressant, mood-enhancing, relaxing and sleep-inducing effects.
Cashew nuts have many B vitamins. A lack of B vitamins can result in tiredness, exhaustion and difficulty concentrating.

From the tree to the ready-to-eat cashew nut: a complex process

Cashew nuts are more expensive than many other types of nuts and kernels. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that only one core is formed per cashew apple. On the other hand, harvesting and processing are very complex:

Harvest: When the cashew apples are ripe, they fall to the ground by themselves. However, many cashew farmers do not wait for the ripening time because the fruit that falls from the tree can spoil very quickly. Instead, the cashew apples are picked unripe from the tree. This means that the cashew nuts are also unripe on the market, which affects the quality.
Drying: After harvesting, the cashew nuts are removed from the cashew apples and then dried first. Traditionally, they are laid out in the sun for a few days, but now the majority are mechanically dried at high temperatures.
Roasting: When the cashew nuts are dried, their shell must be cracked open and removed as they contain a toxic oil. The nuts are roasted, which affects the quality depending on the process. Sometimes they are gently dissolved under steam, but mostly exposed to temperatures of 200 degrees Celsius in roasting kettles, which reduces the quality. Cashew nuts in raw food quality are very rare because the processing is much more complex and special.

More than a snack: You can make this with cashews

In view of the problematic background and the poor ecological balance, you should buy cashew nuts as rarely as possible, but then buy them fairly traded and in organic quality. Then cashews are not only a pleasure as a snack between meals, as a topping for salads and as an ingredient in curries:

Vegan cream or milk: To do this, the seeds must first be soaked in water for at least an hour and then mixed or pureed. Depending on how thick you want the result to be, you add more water for a milk alternative and less water for a cream. Of course, the latter cannot be opened, but it is still ideal for garnishing cakes and desserts. You can use the milk to bake, cook or prepare your muesli.
Raw cakes: You can mix or puree a cream from soaked cashew nuts (without the soaking water) and season with lime and liquid sweetness. The cream can be spread on a cake base consisting of a mixture of ground nuts, seeds or seeds and chopped dried fruit. In the tart tin, this cake needs to be frozen in the freezer and thawed before eating. This is how a semi-frozen cashew cake is made.
Vegan cashew cheese or yoghurt: In the supermarket you can now find vegan cheese and yoghurt alternatives that do not contain soy and are based on cashews. This is of course a welcome development for those who do not eat milk or soy. Tip: To reduce waste, you can also make vegan cashew cheese yourself.