Cashew lovers, get ready! The countdown is on for one of Belize’s most flavorful and festive traditions—the annual Cashew Festival and Agricultural Show. This Saturday, Crooked Tree Village will come alive as Belizeans from near and far gather for a day packed with food, fun, and family traditions. From cashew wine to roasted nuts and jams, the event celebrates the many creative ways this versatile fruit is enjoyed—and the hardworking farmers who make it all possible. Earlier this week, News Five caught up with residents as they put the finishing touches on preparations. Spirits are high, and the village is buzzing with excitement. News Five’s Britney Gordon reports.
It may not be December, but in Crooked Tree Village, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas—cashew-style. That’s the festive feeling in the air as residents gear up for the highly anticipated Cashew Festival and Agricultural Show. With farmers roasting, bakers prepping, and cashew lovers buzzing with excitement, the village is ready to roll out its signature celebration. From sweet treats to savory snacks, the festival promises a flavorful weekend full of tradition, talent, and togetherness.
George Tillett, Chairman, Crooked Tree Village
“It is that time year, for some people they call it, Crooked Tree Christmas in a month of. April and May, because you know, that is when a lot of cash is being generated through these famous cash products. And so, you know, it’s a tradition that goes on from year to year only getting better and better.”
Cashews aren’t just a snack, they’re a way of life in Crooked Tree, and Belizeans can’t get enough of them. Beloved for their rich wine and perfectly roasted nuts, cashews are the star of the show this weekend. But as local resident Verna Samuels explains, the fruit’s versatility goes far beyond the basics.
Verna Samuels, Crooked Tree Resident
“Lots of stuff going on in there because we are trying to make something. As many things as possible out of cashew, because it’s gonna be a cashew festival, and that’s what we mean. It is a cashew festival.”
“So you’re sticking to the traditional jams, juices, jellies, deserts, pastries, bread and bone, even butter?”
Verna Samuels
“Yes, yes. We are doing that and we are, we are adding a little, a few more items such as, such as we wanna pickle the cashew for the first time. And we have, preserved some, um, in the past and we wanna do some more of that.”
Verna Samuels
“Cashew milk, we’ve only tried it once and we are going to do it again.”
“What does it taste like?”
Verna Samuels
“It tastes pretty much like almond milk or something like that. It’s pretty tasty and people go for it.”
In the world of food innovation, Joan Arana is making waves with an unexpected star ingredient: the often-overlooked cashew fruit. While most people toss it aside, Arana saw potential—and now she’s turning what was once waste into mouthwatering meat substitutes.
Joan Arana, Crooked Tree Resident
“So this is the cashew fruit with my garlic, onions, sweet pepper, cilantro, oregano, thyme. Because I am doing cashew panades, I use the seasonings that I normally would use for fish like when I’m doing a fish panades and Crooked Tree People no eat it of it no have fish, We got fish in abundance, right?”
Marion Ali
“So that the fish with cashew.”
“This is one hundred percent cashew.”
What started as a simple observation has turned into a culinary breakthrough for Joan Arana. After noticing how many cashew fruits were being thrown away each year, Arana decided to get creative—and the results are turning heads and tricking taste buds. She began experimenting with the often-wasted fruit, and before long, she was whipping up dishes that look, taste, and even feel like real meat.
Joan Arana
“Here you have the cashew meat already prepared that I use for like the patties that I will use for like the burgers. These are in one pong bags already in your freezer. So they have different tastes, different spices.”
“So that taste like what?”
Joan Arana
“This is regular, like how you would stew. Your grind meat or brown chicken or something like that. This is this And say similar to gr meat.. I made patties from this and took it out when we had a ladies Baptist fond there and they did not realize the difference between the chicken the chicken patty and the cashew patty”
According to Ricky Burns, climate change has become a challenge for many farmers as unexpected floods and droughts ruin the trees’ yields.
Ricky Burns, Crooked Tree Resident
“The fruit is very important. Especially for people that make wines, jams, jellies any kind of cash preserve. So we years by years gone by, we used to get the root. The fruits are really amazing. Yeah. Now, because our whole hot and how dry it’s become we don’t have the amount of fruits. Like we used to get.”
Despite the challenges of climate change, which have stifled crops, cashews remain a staple in the village. Burns details how he makes the beloved classic of roasted cashews.
“I’m separating the cashew fruit. They’re a few days old, so that’s why they’re not yellow or anything like that, but we still gotta collect them because we want the nuts. The nuts is very valuable as everybody know. So I’m separating this, the nut from the whole fruit. And then and then there’s a process after that you wash them. I personally wash them and dry them because I am, they last forever if you do that to them. So I wash them and I dry them, and then after that we roast them.”
The two-day festival kicks off on May tenth in Crooked Tree. Britney Gordon for News Five.