Carob Semantics Are Important

by Dave
(Los Angeles)

I applaud you for not using lazy language in this post to describe carob as "a chocolate substitute."

As you say, carob is "definitely not chocolate." While it LOOKS like chocolate and shares some physical characteristics such as color and texture, it's definitely NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE. It's a completely different product.

So, I would suggest that carob can be SUBSTITUTED FOR CHOCOLATE in some recipes or even as a stand-alone snack, that it is definitely NOT a "chocolate substitute."

That misstatement can make a very large difference in whether a person will like carob the first time they try it. If they're expecting a "chocolate substitute," they're going to be seriously disappointed.

Comments for Carob Semantics Are Important

Click here to add your own comments

Sep 22, 2008

For Angie
by: Nicola

Hello Angie, Thank you for your comment to me. Yes, I am sure many people would love to have some great recipes for carob chocolate or bakery goods. I don't know how to bake or cook. Ha. I am looking for already made stuff like the Toblerone chocolate, which is my favorite, but it has chocolate and I prefer carob. I asked Tobler to make the Toblerone out of carob instead of chocolate, but they did not respond back to me. :0( I would love to have a great receipe for making carob Toblerone or something similar. I guess for cookies or muffins you can just replace the chocolate with carob. I will try doing that soon. Take care. Nicola

Sep 21, 2008

More carob recipes?
by: Angie

Hi Nicola,

As a big carob fan, do you have any favorite carob recipes that you can share with us? There are a good number of people who visit this site looking for carob recipes.

Tried and true recipes from carob lovers is something we really need around here. Feel free to add yours. I'm sure they will be a blessing to others. :)

Sep 20, 2008

Carob tastes like chocolate to me
by: Nicola

Hello, Carob tastes like chocolate to me, but even better. It's sweeter and milder. I love it and I would love to see more products made out of carob on the market.

Jun 10, 2008

Carob, Chocolate, and Semantics?
by: Angie

Hi Dave,

I'm sure you're right, although I'm not adamant about it. I suspect most people who think of carob as a "chocolate substitute" realize it is not really chocolate at all.

It's true that people who taste carob for the first time may be disappointed because they are expecting it to taste like chocolate. I don't think it's really the semantics that cause the problem.

I imagine that no matter how much you SAY that it isn't chocolate and doesn't taste at all like chocolate, people who have eaten chocolate would still subconsciously expect it to taste similar anyway because of the appearance.

I'm from the US but have lived in Australia for the last 11 years. It was sooo annoying the first year or two here when it came to food. The food looked the same as American food but the taste was extremely different. Every meal was rather disappointing until I got used to it.

No matter how much I told myself it wasn't going to taste the same, my mouth still expected the familiar tastes because of the appearance and past experiences.

I can't even really explain WHY it tasted different, unlike carob and chocolate. :-) It seems there's just something overpowering about our senses that does us in!

Thanks so much for adding your comments. I always appreciate great input on the site. I hope you'll share again in future.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Carob Candy.