In Episode 11 I am investigating a fruit with a bit of an image problem. Carob (Ceratonia siliqua) is the fruit of an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean. The view of carob as a subsistence food has perhaps tarnished this fruit’s reputation. Yet despite this, the carob grown in the Ragusa district of Sicily has earned a place in the Slow Food Ark of Taste where it is described as having ‘a taste similar to cocoa with hints of honey and caramel, so much so that in ancient times in Sicily it was considered the “poor persons chocolate”.’ In recent years carob has been praised for its healthy credentials being a good source of dietary fibre and antioxidants. However, today it is more likely to be fed to animals than used in a kitchen. So why is it not more widely used in cookery? To help me answer this question I chat to historian Mary Taylor Simeti and food writer Angela Zaher.

Useful Links

Angela Zaher’s website. You can also follow Angela on Instagram.

Mary Taylor Simeti’s books include:

* Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food

* Bitter Almonds: Recollections and recipes from a Sicilian girlhood (with Maria Grammatico)

* On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal

* Travels With a Medieval Queen

You can also find Mary on Instagram.

Suggested Reading

* Slow Food on Carob

* ‘How Carob Traumatized a Generation’ by Jonathan Kauffman for the New Yorker

* I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga (1881) was translated by Mary A Craig and published in English as The House by the Medlar-Tree (1890)

* ‘Carob: The “Poor Man’s Chocolate”’ by Jo Vraca for Italy Segreta

Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.

A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.

Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.