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CAROB THROUGHOUT HISTORYCarob originated from the area around the Persian Gulf, from where its cultivation first spread to the territory of Asia Minor, then to Syria, Lebanon, Palestine ,Israel and Egypt, and then the Phoenicians spread this endurable plant further along the Mediterranean. It was probably brought to Italy by the Greeks or the Phoenicians, the Arabs planted it in North Africa and Spain, the Spanish took it to South America and Mexico, and the British to India, South Africa and Australia. Even today, this tree, which does not require much but gives much, is grown in many parts of the world. The countries with the largest carob production are Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Turkey and Greece.
Carob was brought to us by the Greeks who established their colonies on the Adriatic coast. They also founded Issa, the oldest city in Croatia and brought carob culture along, which is still being held on the island of Vis. During the Venetian rule Komiža was the leading community where carob was cultivated in Dalmatia and planting was encouraged even in a way that it was a condition for marriage.
The locust was probably named after the Greek word keration, which means horn, because of its specific form of pods. In some languages the name derived from the original word so we have an English carob or an Italian carruba and in some languages it derived from the translation as in ours, it is called rogač, in Czech rohovnik or rožkov in Bulgarian.
It was the translation where one of the biblical misunderstandings occurred. In the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark it is mentioned that St. John the Baptist, in order to feed himself in the desert, ate grasshoppers and wild honey. It is more likely that carob was mentioned because it was colloquially called “grasshopper” because of similarity of the fruits while green and would be very welcomed in St. John’s diet. The carob is also known as Johannisbrot – John's bread in German.
The carob is also mentioned in the New Testament: the prodigal son, from the story of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, after scattering the property his father gave him, hungry he wanted to satiate with pods of carob,which pigs ate.
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Even the ancient Egyptians knew the healing powers of the carob, so in many tombs, pods and seeds were found and the adherence of the carob was also used to help mummification. The ancient Greeks called it theEgyptianfig and used it as a natural dessert, just like the Romans who ate fresh green legumes.It was at the era of the Antiquity that it was discovered that carob seeds varied very little in weight, so they were used to weigh gold. Carob seed weights 0.18 grams, which is 1 carat (keration), a measuring unit for gold. In ancient Rome, such a pure gold coin, called Solidus, weighed exactly 24 carats and because of this even today, 24-carat gold is considered a pure gold.
With its durability and nutrition value, the carob helped people to survive during many difficult times throughout history. It was eaten by Mohamed's soldiers and Roman legionaries. The builders of Egyptian pyramids were also eating carob during their pauses between hard work, just like seamen on long journeys. Carob helped Maltese people survive harsh conditions during the Second World War.
At the beginning of the war, Spanish doctor Ramos observed that the hungry children who ate carob to soothe hunger had less digestive problems than those who did not consume carob at all; in the research, a group of infants suffering from diarrhoea and treated with carob recovered twice as quickly as babies treated with conventional medicines. Carob was both, food and medicine.
This magnificent plant is still celebrated all over the world. The Jews have a special ceremony called Tu BiShvat (New Year of the Tree) when they plant seeds of new trees in winter and eat its dried fruits, especially carob. The Italians made sacred rosary beads out of carob and we have a place called Rogač on the island of Šolta. Thus, the rich history of the ancient carob continues.