Carob Tree and Monumental Trees
Carob is one of the long-lived trees of the Mediterranean. An old carob tree, with its thick, gnarled trunk and broad crown, stands in place for generations in village squares, on the side of old roads and on field borders. Some of these trees are seen as "monumental trees" due to their age, size and cultural significance; One of the most well-known examples of this is that a carob tree in Malta is believed to be over a thousand years old.
Read MoreCarob Tradition in Malta and the Mediterranean Islands
The Mediterranean islands are among the places where carob has the most deep-rooted traditions. In Malta, the tree is the symbol of the rural landscape and a sign of longevity in language; In the southeast of Sicily, carob pastures are part of the cultural landscape; in Crete, it takes place in daily life with its syrup and wood; In Cyprus, it carried the island's economy as "black gold" for a while.
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Proverbs, Idioms and Folk Beliefs About Carob
Carob has also left its mark on folk culture, as it is a tree that has accompanied the daily life of Mediterranean people for centuries. Carob, which takes its name from the shape of the fruit in Turkish; It has been the subject of the phrase "two dirhams and one seed", carob idioms and riddles living in the Turkish Cypriot dialect, a legend connected to Lokman Hekim, beliefs in folk medicine and harvest festivals.
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Carob in the Years of War and Famine
Carob has been both animal feed and a food used by people in difficult times for centuries in the Mediterranean basin. This fruit, which can bear fruit even in dry years, can be stored for a long time when dried, and is naturally sweet; It has become one of the means of survival during the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent famine years, in besieged Malta during the Second World War and in many rural areas of the Mediterranean.
Read MoreCarob in Scripture and Religious Traditions
Carob was so prevalent in the daily life of the Eastern Mediterranean that it found its way into religious texts and traditions. In the parable of the Prodigal Son in the New Testament, the pods eaten by pigs are often interpreted as carob; the name "St. John's bread" in English comes from a tradition of interpretation dating back to John the Baptist.
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Carob in Ancient Egypt and Greece
Carob left its mark in different ways in the two great cultures of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean, the Egyptian and Greek world. The Egyptians used a sign in the form of a carob pod when writing the concept of "sweet"; The Greeks, on the other hand, compared the pod of the tree to the horn and gave it the name that forms the basis of today's scientific name.
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The Origin of the Name Carob and Its Names in Different Languages
Since carob is a tree that has been known in the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years, it is called by different names in every language and even in different regions of the same country. It is called "carob" and "carob" in Turkish, "carob" in English, "algarroba" in Spanish, "garrofa" in Catalan and "carruba" in Italian. Most of these names go back to the Arabic word "kharrūb". The scientific name Ceratonia siliqua is derived from the Greek words "horn" and Latin "pod".
Read MoreCarat Measurement and Carob Seeds: Myth or Reality?
The sentence "Carob seeds are all the same weight; that's why jewelers used them as scales and carat measurement was born from here" is one of the most repeated carob information on the internet. Some of this sentence is true and some of it is legendary.
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Carob and Molasses Culture in the Ottoman Empire
Carob is a tree that grows almost all of the Mediterranean coasts where the Ottoman Empire ruled for a long time. In regions such as the southern coasts of Anatolia, Cyprus, Crete, the Levant and Egypt, carob fruit was used as animal feed, sweetener, beverage and trade goods; In many of these regions, carob molasses and sherbet traditions were formed, which are still alive today.
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History of Carob
Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is one of the oldest cultivated trees in the Mediterranean basin. It turned into a sign meaning "sweet" in ancient Egyptian writing, gained a place in the Greek and Roman world as both a food and weight unit, and became widespread in the Middle Ages with the interest of Arab and Andalusian agricultural writers.
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