Geröstete Cashewnüsse mit Honig , Piment d’Espelette & Sojasoße glasiert

– or like a Cuban song about a married man falling in love with another inspired me to this snack – Caramelo con picante

Once I start snacking on nuts I can’t stop. And the addictive factor is particularly bad with these honey-glazed, roasted cashews. As soon as I’ve finished a sheet of metal, I have to hide at least half of it from myself.

The honey coats the roasted cashews and glazes them beautifully with the flavors of the light but great spiciness of the Piment d’Espelette and the umami of the soy. Effortlessly made, the roasted, honey-glazed cashews are the perfect snack for movie night.

But actually it’s about the story of how this recipe came about in the first place. Last Christmas we celebrated in Cuba. Determined not to be embarrassed in front of the Cuban salsa cracks in Havana, my cousin Alejandra and I took private salsa lessons every morning with Karelia Despaigne , who required at least the same discipline from us as the Russian ballet teacher in Anna. The fact that we had drunk maybe 1-2 mojitos too much the day before didn’t matter. A big part of the daily dance routine was to the song „Caramelo con Picante“ – “Candy with something spicy”. In her song, the singer informs the wife Yaya that she should pick up her husband because he wants to eat „Caramelo con Picante“ because he has fallen in love with her -Caramelo- because she cooks so beautifully and walks so beautifully. 😉 During our 10 days in Havana, my cousin and I, walking along the promenade and singing „Caramelo con Picante“ kept imagining what a snack with that title might look like. And since there is not the greatest selection of food in Cuba, we mostly snacked on cashew nuts. So it was clear that it should be something sweet and spicy with umami and glazed. A sexy snack. Just like Caramelo in the song. And hey presto, the new favorite snack was born.

Incidentally, cashew nuts have less fat than most other nuts and are high in protein. If you want to learn more about cashew nuts, you can read on here .