Kitchen Miracles, The Carob Tree

Carob is usually recognised for its use in baking as a chocolate substitue.  Some love it, some hate it.  I quite like it and have made many things using carob.  After coming to Turkey İ found out that they make Pekmez out of it as well.  Carob has come to my attention recently in regards to finding a natural remedy for asthma and broncial infections.  I again went to the famous herbalist Dr Saraoğlu and consulted his records regarding this and found out that Carob is very benificial for asthma and allergic asthma, plus a few other things.  He has a protocol to follow that he says can greatly reduce the symptoms.

Carob is native to the Eastern Mediteranien Area and has been cultivated here for thousands of years.  Some even say that John the Baptist ate carob pods while he was out in the wilderness. Carob is celebrated every year in Israel during the festival of Tu B'Shevat which is an annual festival celebrating trees. 

Carob is not only very nutrional for humans it can also be fed as a supplement to livestock.  Carob is full of vitamins A,B,D and E and packed with protein.  It has alot of fiber so is also said to be good for weight loss .

Carob will stop diaherra and constipation.  Carob can be used as a treatment to help prevent lung cancer.  Carob will increase sperm count, quality and movement.

This table was taken off Dr Saraçoğlus webpage listing the benefits of Carob

Analgesic	Ağrı kesici
Antiallergenic	Alerjiye karşı
Antiasthmatic	Astıma karşı
Antibacterial	Bakteri yok edici
Antibronchitic	Bronşite karşı
Anticancer	Kansere karşı
Antihepatotoxic	Karaciğeri toksinden arındırıcı
Antioxidant	Serbest radikalleri yok edici
İmmunostimulant	Bağışıklık sistemini stimüle eden
Antiviral	Mikroplara karşı etkili
Antiseptic	Antiseptik
Cancer-preventive	Kansere karşı koruyucu
Antinitrosaminic	Nitrozamin yok edici
Bronchodilator	Bronş genişletici
Antipolio	Çocuk felcine karşı

The protocol for asthma uses the whole pod.


Get 6 - 7 carob pods and wash under cold water, break into 3cm to 4cm lengths then place into a kettle with half a litre of water.  Boil on a light to medium heat for 8 minutes.  When it cools strain and place into a glass bottle in your fridge.  This can be kept in your fridge for up to 3 days.  Drink 125ml every morning with breakfast and every evening before dinner.


Do this for 20 days.  Then after the 20 days continue for another 15 days.  So no break in between.  For the 15 days do the same thing morning and night but with one difference.  Add in half a teaspoon of honey in with the carob tea at breakfast time.  Just adding at breakfast not at night.


So for 20 days just the tea.  For 15 days after that the tea plus honey at breakfast time.


If you want do to this for your child just give them the tea at breakfast for the full 35 days.


http://verygoodrecipes.com/turkish

Hummus

My favorite food actually isn't Turkish, its Asian.  What has this got to do with Hummus? nothing but Hummus and falafel are probably nearly on equal footing as Asian food or a very close second.  I don't know what it is about Hummus maybe its just the taste, the texture who knows.  Turkish people do eat this and whilst it is not eaten everywhere or even known throughout Turkey you can find this in Antakya and Hatay.  Alot of Turks would even say its not a Turkish dish, the Arabs would say its theirs the Israelis claim it as well.  The fact is that alot of the Middle Eastern food is very similar with some of the dishes crossing over boarders and Hummus is one of them.  As a result many countries will claim this divine dish as their own.  Speaking about Divine I happened across a blog devoted just to Hummus and they have an excerpt on there from Israeli writer  Meir Shalev who says he can prove it is Israeli as its origins can be found in the Bible, the old testament.

The first time Ruth and Boaz had met in Bethlehem, he offered her some humus: “And at meal-time Boaz said unto her, Come hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar” (Ruth 2-14).

This is a mistranslation of course. The original word in ancient Hebrew, is “Hometz”. Which not only sounds a bit like “Humus”, but also resembles the word “Himtza”. The Hebrew name of chick-peas.

True, “Hometz” in modern Hebrew is vinegar. But you don’t really think Boaz was so rude as to offer Ruth to dip her bread in vinegar, do you? Got to admit it’s more reasonable to think it was Humus.


Not only are the origins of Humus ambiguous but so is the recipe or should I say recipes!  As people are very different, recipes also change and are different depending on where you come from. Syrians might like more tahini whilst I have heard Jordanians like more lemon so therefore the recipe is slightly different depending on where you come from.  Most of us have probably bought a tub from the fridge section in the local supermarket and so have a basic idea on what is involved in the final product.  I have given you the recipe for this in my Meze post before.  I thought it deserved another honourable mention when I saw a few videos about Hummus on youtube.


This first one shows the whole eating experience for those who haven't yet partaken of this dish, but as you will see on the video it is also a staple for some. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXPJUyFGMgE&feature=related


This second one will show you how to serve it perfectly for your next dinner party or lunch. The guy dresses it up with pine nuts but I really think it would be much more appropriate to serve it with a few boiled chickpeas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvvtD4rdx3E&feature=related