Ehud was spreading a thick layer of this mystery brown spread on his toast a few weeks ago in the group kitchenette. I though it might be a dangerously thick layer of marmite but he informed me that it was carob paste. He also told me that carob beans can be used as a substitute for chocolate. Woah, woah, woah, buddy. There is NO such thing as a substitute for chocolate. This statement alone made me skeptical of the brown bean. Apparently, carob trees are everywhere and you can pick the beans for free off branches hanging out on to the street from the neighbours' yards when they are all brown and dried up. However, I once spent some quality time with my sister in Tennessee picking up the nasty smelling beans of the honey locust tree which look very similar, so I was reluctant to start chewing on street beans. So when I saw carob beans in the grocery store with a label on them, I bought a couple for us to try.
Eating a carob bean is a lot like gnawing on a tough piece of beef jerky. But instead of the smoked-meat-candy flavour, my taste buds were besieged by the overwhelming flavour of dates mixed with grain. I was suddenly struck by the dusty memory of playing in the grain silo at the farm. But with dates. Very odd. The Chicken complacently chewed all of his, but I had to spit mine out.
Chocolate substitute, my foot.
No comments:
Post a Comment