The ‘one and only’ Crooked Tree Cashew Festival: insular village celebrates pride and cash cow

By Aaron Humes: The 36th Cashew Fest in Crooked Tree went off well over the weekend with elevated turnout on Saturday although weather impacted Sunday’s turnout.

Official ceremonies featured CEO in the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations Nicole Solano, standing in for Minister Anthony Mahler and former Governor-General Sir Colville Young along with representatives of the village council chaired by George Tillett.

Tillett explained that a drought following November’s Hurricane Lisa had slightly deformed cashew fruits coming off the trees but the nuts remained solid and were selling well.

And the chairman says he is still interested in finding some sort of mechanized process to maximize value-added products such as cashew jelly, bread and bun, packed nuts, wine, and so on, but that organic creation has its charm: “Until that point where we find some mechanized way of processing the nuts, then it will be different; but again there is a trick to it. Doing it homemade – roasting on a fire, baking it, patching it, getting it ready for food consumption – the organic taste and everything; cashew is an addictive nut – you can’t eat just one or two, you have to eat the whole bag.”

When you buy, Tillett added, be sure to ask for the authentic, crisply baked nuts rather than the bigger, paler ones that actually come from Guatemala but which some are passing off as Crooked Tree-made.

Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at mаrkеtіng@brеаkіngbеlіzеnеwѕ.соm or call us at 501-612-0315.

© 2023, BreakingBelizeNews.com. Content is copyrighted and requires written permission for reprinting in online or print media. Theft of content without permission/payment is punishable by law.