The Delights of Carob

I seem to be using a large amount of carob on my new journey which makes total sense to me. Carob is a natural chocolate substitute and I am a confirmed chocoholic, so it all fits together. I did start wondering about what carob is exactly - I know it’s natural but what does that mean? So I did some research and I was amazed at what I found. Carob comes from a tree and actually belongs to the legume family. The scientific name of the tree is Ceratonia siliqua and it is also known as St John’s bread.
The tree grows pods and this is what is used to make carob. They are green in colour and when they are ripe they turn brown. I was fascinated to discover that they take a whole year to ripen and that when they are ripe they fall off the tree.
The pods are naturally sweet and were the first source of sugar – long before sugarcane came along. It is used for so many things that its use as a chocolate substitute is relatively small. Amazingly, the carob seed was used to measure diamonds and other gemstones because its weight is so consistent. And this is where the word ‘carat’ comes from! Besides it’s rich history, carob brings richness to our diets as well. Over and above it’s awesome taste, carob is good for us.
It contains Vitamins A, B, B2, B3 and D as well as a whole host of minerals and is a source of calcium, potassium, riboflavin and is protein rich. It is safe for diabetics, fat free, has one third the calories of chocolate and is nonallergenic!
Isn’t Mother Nature absolutely wonderful? To think that she supplies us with this amazing food that tastes really good and it literally does grow on trees!