Inside this drupe lies the cashew seed, which is what we eat. Interestingly, the cashew’s outer shell is inedible due to the presence of urushiol, a toxic compound also found in poison ivy.

Workers must peel off the husk, or the dry outer covering that ... the demand for continuous cashew supply, we need more employees. That is why we use machines to de-shell. That is the difference.

Nuts vary widely in how they look, grow and taste, from the big meaty Brazil nuts that grow in a cluster inside a large outer shell, the cashew that is a single nut outside a big fleshy fruit ...