The Chef: Dave Beran (Next)The Challenger: Matthias Merges (Yusho)The Ingredient: Cashew apples
Beran wasn’t able to locate fresh cashew apples—for one thing, they’re not in season, and even if they were, they’re too delicate to ship—but with the help of a friend who’s a movie producer in LA, he did track down frozen ones. The friend sent some interns out to search for the pseudofruit, Beran said, and “one of them found them in the back freezer section of a little Mexican market in LA. So he overnighted them to me, along with a bunch of random candy and weird trinkets.”
Video by Michael Gebert/Sky Full of Bacon
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If fresh cashew apples were available here, Beran said, “I’d put it on the menu for sure.”
1 g vanilla (scraped bean) 50 g salt 10 g sugar
Roasted Cashew Apple
Brown butter, add chopped cashews, brown sugar, and salt. Cook until cashews are caramelized and brown sugar has melted. Remove candied cashews from oil. Reserve both separately.
