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Kevin_Wolf t1_iuf1x0k wrote

Reply to comment by snowflake247 in TIL that in ancient times, the carob seed was used to measure the worth of gems and gold since the seeds have a general uniform weight. This is where the word "karat" comes from. by kkoolook

I grew up with crazy hippy parents that insisted carob was a chocolate substitute. IMO, it's not, they just say that it is.

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Adrian_Alucard t1_iuf7oj9 wrote

In Spain is used by the farmers to feed their livestock, so it's not really seen as substitute of nothing, is just food for animals

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Mosacyclesaurus t1_iugz3u4 wrote

So funny, I'm here in the backcountry area of Alicante today and discovered leftover carob pods in the fields. I get the chocolate taste but it tastes more like tamarind to me, just drier. I was wondering what they were using it for.

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DamianFullyReversed t1_iufalu3 wrote

Yeah, I can tell the difference myself. Carob feels chocolatey, but the aftertaste is different imo

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zholo t1_iufe4is wrote

What did it taste like? Is it actually chocolatey?

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Kevin_Wolf t1_iufofoh wrote

Not really. They can doctor it up to make something kind of resembling chocolate, but it's like saying Nerds are a substitute for Sour Patch Kids. They're both sour candy, but that's about where the similarity ends.

You can't really use carob chips like you can use chocolate chips, and the taste is drier, and nuttier/earthier than chocolate. That's also not saying it's bad, it's just not chocolate.

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Remarkable-Storm-738 t1_iugt1p2 wrote

I've tried cocoa beans before and they actually have a surprisingly nutty taste and texture, also pretty dry. Sounds similar to me lol

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AmusingAnecdote t1_iugzj52 wrote

Carob tastes more like cocoa than it does like chocolate, but when you try and make it taste more like chocolate, it still tastes more like cocoa, it doesn't really get closer to tasting like chocolate when made into a bar or a chip or whatever. I agree with the people saying it isn't bad, it's frequently very good, but it doesn't taste like chocolate.

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Alexstarfire t1_iuh1e7v wrote

Nerds are sour?

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grating t1_iugoyjm wrote

It's about as tasty as sawdust. One of the more revolting hippy fad foods. I've even seen it sweetened with stevia, which is a revolting fad sugar substitute. The food equivalent of hairshirts and flagellation,

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jaggervalance t1_iuh83vf wrote

Really? As a kid I loved eating wild carub when in the country.

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Kevin_Wolf t1_iuhy3ak wrote

We're complaining about carob being substituted for chocolate. Carob is fine, but it doesn't work as chocolate.

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jaggervalance t1_iuhys3n wrote

It doesn't, but OP was saying it tastes like sawdust. It has a great taste, but it's way different from chocolate.

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BattleBull t1_iuifrhq wrote

Maybe OP just has the world's best tasting sawdust and never knew it! :D

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odaeyss t1_iufxmx2 wrote

no, not at all, i'd rather eat baking chocolate, ADULTS LIE TO YOU DON'T TRUST THEM US

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BattleBull t1_iuifeu4 wrote

No one responded to you directly with the taste it seems, it taste like chocolate and raisin at the same time. Not as strong as chocolate directly, but still very tasty.

I'd use them alongside chocolate for a nice heterogeneous taste.

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JamesTheJerk t1_iufiarv wrote

They press it into bars just like chocolate and it looks identical. If doing a blind test with dark chocolate and carob I wouldn't be able to tell which was which.

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Socky_McPuppet t1_iug2c9l wrote

> If doing a blind test with dark chocolate and carob I wouldn't be able to tell which was which.

That's crazy, they taste totally different to me. Carob doesn't taste anything like chocolate to me.

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AnalTrajectory t1_iughrp8 wrote

Same here. Health nut parents always tried to convince us that carob was better. It's not, and you can't convince me otherwise.

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otherkerry t1_iuhpyvh wrote

One of the many things that sucked about being a kid in the 70s—my parents weren’t hippies but I think my mom got the carob at Diet Center or health food stores. Thank goodness grandmas house and her cookie tins were right around the corner.

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nygaff t1_iugbi6e wrote

Came here to say exactly this^. The early 90's was not a fun time to be a little kid 🤣

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boowhitie t1_iuh3zw5 wrote

Yes, I felt so betrayed by my hippie parents for this.

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Hippopotamidaes t1_iuhyvf7 wrote

It’s sort of like saying tofurkey is a substitute for turkey—it is, but it’s also markedly different.

I wouldn’t say carob to chocolate is like an impossible burger to the real thing (which is discernibly different, but not to the degree of carob to chocolate).

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locks_are_paranoid t1_iufo3o5 wrote

It doesn't even make sense why hippies are anti-chocolate

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Delysid52 t1_iufriyy wrote

Depends on where the chocolate comes from but huge exploitation of people in the cocoa industry

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FinanceAnalyst t1_iugwn34 wrote

I guess the irony of drumming up demand for any product tends to cause race to the bottom and labor exploitation is lost upon these folks.

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Houndsthehorse t1_iug25ha wrote

The slavery tends to leave a bad taste

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8ad8andit t1_iugdi2k wrote

There is plenty of fair trade, sustainably grown, organic chocolate out there these days.

But back in the day it was a little more scarce.

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Alexstarfire t1_iuh1jgd wrote

The trick is to eat the chocolate, not the slaves.

Seriously though, this is one of the downsides of globalization. Hard to keep unethical labor practices out of the process. Even harder for the consumer to know.

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VoiceOfRealson t1_iuha1cu wrote

>Seriously though, this is one of the downsides of globalization. Hard to keep unethical labor practices out of the process. Even harder for the consumer to know.

Arguably modern globalization makes it easier for the consumer to know about unethical labor practices (internet/smartphones and all), but the global supply chain can be used to cover up, specifically where those products go.

In the old days you had to send people to manually inspect every step of the transport process to catch whether somebody was introducing shady products into the supply stream.

These days you have to do the same.

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