Cashew

Cashews are not nuts, whatever the bag calls them. They're seeds, shaped like a comma and hanging off a false fruit, and that alone should tell you they behave differently in the pan from an almond or a walnut. They're sweeter than most nuts too, and that sugar is quick to catch — watch for the moment the smell turns from toasty to sharp, because that's the line between roasted and burnt. Choose them pale ivory, plump, with a faint sweet smell close up. If they smell sharp, waxy, or like old paint, the fat has turned — put them back.

Some people say cashews are too oily to roast dry, that you need butter or oil from the start. No! Toast them dry first, low heat, and the fat already inside will render out enough to crisp them on their bare surface. Oil isn't the enemy here — it won't make them soggy, only water does that — but add it too early and you'll drown the toasting in grease before they get their snap. Trust the seed's own fat before you reach for the bottle, and listen for that dry, papery rustle in the pan — that's when you know they're close.