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The Babylonian Talmud (Ta'anit 23a) tells the story of the scholar Honi, known as the circle-maker: One day he [Honi] was journeying on the road and he saw a man planting a carob tree. He asked him, How long does it take [for this tree] to bear fruit? The man replied: Seventy years. He then further asked him: Are you certain that you will live another seventy years? The man replied: I found [ready grown] carob trees in the world; as my forefathers planted these for me so I too plant these for my children. |
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The carob is not mentioned in the Bible, but is mentioned in the Mishnah and the Talmud. Archeological evidence indicates that carobs were present in Israel only since the period of the Second Temple, at which time they are thought to have been introduced. They are mentioned in the literature of travelers who passed through the Land of Israel as early as the 12th century. |
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Carobs were eaten in ancient Egypt, and the carob was used in the hieroglyph for "sweet". They were an important source of sugar before sugarcane and sugar beets became widely available. In most of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean carobs were used to prepare traditional drinks, syrups and as animal fodder. The dark-brown pods are not only edible, but also rich in sucrose and protein, as well as vitamins A and B and several important minerals. |
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Carobs, dried or roasted, and then ground up, form a high protein powder that is an effective substitute for cocoa powder. It is often used to prepare “healthy chocolate”: although it has a slightly different taste than chocolate, it has only one-third the calories, is virtually fat-free (chocolate is half fat), is rich in pectin, is non-allergenic, has abundant protein, and has no oxalic acid, which interferes with absorption of calcium. |
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What do carob trees and precious gems and metals have in common? Jewelry lovers all know the term "carat", the unit by which gem weight and the purity of gold are measured. The word is derived from the Hebrew word “gerah” (Exodus 30:13) or from the Greek word “kerátiοn” alluding to an ancient practice of weighing gold and gemstones against the seeds of the carob tree (Ceratonia). The system was eventually standardized, and one carat was fixed at 0.2 grams. Why carob seeds? Because carob seeds do not lose water and their weight remains constant. The weight of the Roman gold coin known as the “solidus” was equivalent to 24 carat seeds (about 4.5 grams). One-twenty-fourth of a solidus was known as a “siliqua”. The carat thus became a measure of purity for gold: 24-carat gold means 100% pure, 12-carat gold means the alloy contains 50% gold, and so forth. |
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Carobs are dioecious trees – they have separate male and female trees – and only the female trees produce fruit. Their flowers are small, but they have a very strong and characteristic unpleasant odor. The fruit is a pod, which ripens slowly, falls to the ground and is eaten by mammals thus dispersing the seeds. |
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