Carob tree with fruit

Ossie


Joined: 19/01/2008
Posts: 311

Message Posted:
31/01/2010 17:52

We have a Carob tree in our garden with plenty of ripe fruit. Can anyone advise what we can do with the fruit? There are plenty of recipes on the internet but none of them indicate what we do with the raw fruit.

roisin


Joined: 19/03/2009
Posts: 358

Message Posted:
31/01/2010 18:06

You can eat it raw(not the seeds)chew it or you can grate it on to puddings etc.It's a sweet chocolatey taste(you can buy carob"chocolate" bars in health food shops). It is very good for you with protein, vitamins and minerals.Also used to feed animals(cows etc)The seeds are all the same size and were used to weigh gold (the word "carat" was originally "carob"). Maureen from Hizarkoy has a "carob picking"day.She shows people how to make syrup and other things from carob.I think she advertises the day in Cyprus Today newspaper.I think she goes to Carpenters market on Fridays as well.

roisin


Joined: 19/03/2009
Posts: 358

Message Posted:
31/01/2010 18:08

Forgot to say that I think there is a law here that says you can't harvest carob trees until after a certain date in the year, Don't know if this applies to private growers or just commercial ones.

DutchCrusader



Joined: 19/05/2008
Posts: 11281

Message Posted:
31/01/2010 18:58

Not important, but maybe you'd like to know: In the Middle Ages the Carob fruit in Cyprus was called "Black gold" (nowadays, for some reason , it's often nicknamed "Turkish Viagra"). The Lusignan rulers of Cyprus (1192-1489) made much money out of this precious fruit. When you drive from Girne/Kyrenia towards the Karpaz you can still find remains of medieval Carob storehouses (on your left hand, close to the sea) including small harbours where the harvest would be shipped - mainly to Southern France and Italy. From there the (dried) Carob fruit would be sold for very high prices all over Europe. The Carob fruit (and the typical rough Cyprus silk; you'll still find many Mulberry trees in Cyprus, because the silkworm feeds on the leaves) were in high demand in medieval Europe. Sorry for hijacking/diverting the thread...