WHOLE
Seedless
THE RAW MATERIAL
THE CAROB TREE
A thousand-year-old tree. A brown pod. Seeds so precise they became a unit of measure for gold: the carats.
Carob is the heart of Ciokarrua. A Mediterranean fruit, naturally sweet, rich in fibre, caffeine-free. A superfood back on the table after decades of neglect.
What is carob
Carob is the fruit of an evergreen tree, the Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua), found throughout the Mediterranean basin, but above all in Sicily.
The fruit has the typical tapered, oblong shape, similar to a bean pod; when it ripens, it turns brown.
The carob is a strong, long-lived and luxuriant tree that needs no particular care to grow. Just take a walk through the countryside around Ciokarrua and you'll be blissfully enchanted by the patterns of these green canopies.
THE CARAT
Every carob holds within it the carats, flattened, rounded, very hard seeds, known for a curious property: they all share the exact same weight, so much so that in the past they were used as a unit of measure for gold.
From humble memory to renewed appreciation
Strongly tied to the memory of a humbler, simpler way of life, in the logic of economic prosperity and mass consumption carob was set aside for a time, only to be reappraised, both nationally and worldwide, thanks to its unique properties.
Its origins and the variety of its species are mysterious: a magical tree that tells of lived stories, holding the memory of the happy, blissful breath of those who, perhaps on a hot summer's day, enjoyed its cool shade and its unmistakable scent.
Three monumental carob trees to visit
If you're in Modica, you'll definitely want to go and greet them.
The shape changes, the uses grow
The fruit that best represents our soul. Years of research and study to build on the experience gained in the family business, rediscovering the dignity and taste of a simple, versatile and sweet product.
Artisan products crafted with care and dedication to help you discover the thousand facets of an incredible fruit.
Our mission is to offer you excellence in taste, ideal for marking your day with sweet and savoury pairings: from breakfast to a snack, from an aperitif to a gourmet dinner.
A versatile, precious and healthy fruit. In Sicily it finds its fullest expression and has always been used in countless traditional recipes and preparations.
With carob you can make many easy, nourishing and healthy dishes.
From carob tagliatelle, using the pulp flour, to caramelised onions, using carob extract in place of sugar.
POWDERED
flour
from pulp or seeds
liquid
carob extract
in bar form
Carrubato di Sicilia®
spreadable
Carrubato spread
100% traceable
Only selected organic carob groves
It all starts with the choice of carob grove. The carobs in Ciokarrua products come only from selected organic carob groves in the Hyblaean countryside, between the provinces of Ragusa and Siracusa. We don't farm them: we choose them. Organic, zero-kilometre, rooted in the territory, because the quality of the raw material begins before the harvest.
HARVEST, SELECTION, STORAGE
The selection continues after the harvest: in late August the carobs arrive at our workshop, where we carefully choose and store only the best before processing. Two levels of selection, from the carob grove to the finished product, to guarantee you traceability and the unique pulp of Sicilian carob.
THE TASTE OF SICILY
When you savour Ciokarrua's carob creations you'll taste our Sicily, made of Arab-inspired spices and fruity notes of orange.
The "poor man's chocolate", in its purest form
Notes similar to cocoa
From a sensory point of view, carob has notes similar to cocoa with hints of honey and caramel. For this reason, in ancient Sicily it was already considered the "poor man's chocolate", an easy-to-find fruit that gave young and old alike moments of indulgence.
In its purest form: ripe fruit, figs, dates
Tasting it in its purest form, you'll catch notes of ripe fruit, figs, dates and molasses. A distinctive taste that finds in its aroma the precursor of its flavour: when you smell a carob you sense the full richness of its ripeness.
The sensory message of ripening
The ripening of fruit can easily be perceived by sight, watching the skin change colour from green to a warm brown, and by smell and taste. The smell and taste of ripe fruit, depending on the type and variety, are an unmistakable sensory message that we learn to recognise from childhood. The molecules that make up the smell are the "digital" fingerprint that we inevitably recognise when we bring the fruit to our nose.
Based on the sensory experience developed across sight, smell and taste, our brain recognises what is suitable to eat and, by associating the smell with the fruit and therefore with the flavour, determines its aromatic quality.
Personal taste will influence the choice of your favourite fruit.
A completely new experience
Since carob isn't a commonly known or used fruit, it will be hard for anyone who has never tasted it to recognise certain notes, because it becomes a completely new, unprecedented sensory experience.
You might also catch notes of liquorice, characteristic of its acidity and amplified by the fermentation of the carob itself, but what will sweep you away is its infinite, completely natural sweetness.
A Superfood, first and foremost
Carob is little known and mostly associated with animal feed, particularly for horses. But have you ever seen a horse wearing glasses?
No! That's because the horse, a symbol of strength and longevity, feeds only on healthy foods, and carob isn't just healthy: it's also a Superfood.
Superfoods are foods with health-promoting properties thanks to their nutritional characteristics or their concentration of vitamins.
Two macro-categories are considered Superfoods: superfruit and supergrain.
Carob is a superfruit: it's super rich in fibre, super sweet, super good.
Choosing superfoods means choosing functional foods, true nutraceutical foods that are essential for keeping your body's health in balance. The wide range of vitamins and minerals it's rich in helps meet our daily nutritional needs.
Carob is in fact particularly rich in minerals and vitamins such as:
Calcium; Potassium; Phosphorus; Magnesium; Zinc; Selenium; Iron; Vitamin B; Vitamin C; Vitamin E; Vitamin K; Vitamin J; Folates.
Essential allies for the wellbeing of our body, for supporting the bones, for regulating blood pressure and water retention.
Carob is considered rich in antioxidant polyphenols[6] and a valuable source of fibre for our body. Regular use of carobs and their derivatives brings other proven benefits, proving an effective antidiabetic[1] and cholesterol-lowering agent[4].
Proven benefits
Why choose organic carob products
ORGANIC BY NATURE
Carob is organic no matter what, because the carob tree is born, grows and bears fruit with no need for treatments or particular plant-protection measures. This helps make the product safe and free of substances that could cause intolerances or allergies.
CYCLICAL HARVEST
The harvest, more or less abundant, is cyclical and closely tied to the weather conditions throughout the year.
TRADITION THAT WASTES NOTHING
In keeping with the ancient principle of not wasting the earth's resources, Ciokarrua reinterprets tradition and safeguards carob's slow but sure rise among fine products, representing the taste and landscape of this part of Sicily, more ours than ever.
The information provided is for general informational purposes and does not replace the advice of a doctor or a nutrition professional. Ciokarrua products are neither medicines nor food supplements and make no therapeutic claims.
Bibliography and sources
-
Jenkins D.J., Wolever T.M., Taylor R.H., Barker H., Fielden H., Baldwin J.M., Bowling A.C., Newman H.C., Jenkins A.L., Goff D.V. (1981). "Glycemic index of foods: a physiological basis for carbohydrate exchange". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 34, pp. 362–366. PMID: 6259925.
https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/34.3.362 -
Corsi L., Avallone R., Cosenza F., Farina F., Baraldi C., Baraldi M. (2002). "Antiproliferative effects of Ceratonia siliqua L. on mouse hepatocellular carcinoma cell line". Fitoterapia, Vol. 73, Issues 7–8, pp. 674–684. PMID: 12490228.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0367-326X(02)00227-7 -
Loeb H., Vandenplas Y., Würsch P., Guesry P. (1989). "Tannin-rich carob pod for the treatment of acute-onset diarrhea in early childhood." Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 8(4), 480–485. PMID: 2723939.
https://doi.org/10.1097/00005176-198905000-00010 -
Zunft H.J., Lüder W., Harde A., Haber B., Graubaum H.J., Koebnick C., Grünwald J. (2003). "Carob pulp preparation rich in insoluble fibre lowers total and LDL cholesterol in hypercholesterolemic patients." European Journal of Nutrition, 42(5), 235–242. PMID: 14569404.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-003-0438-y -
Gruendel S., Garcia A.L., Otto B., Mueller C., Steiniger J., Weickert M.O., Speth M., Katz N., Koebnick C. (2006). "Carob pulp preparation rich in insoluble dietary fiber and polyphenols enhances lipid oxidation and lowers postprandial acylated ghrelin in humans." Journal of Nutrition, 136(6), 1533–1538. PMID: 16702317.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/136.6.1533 -
Goulas V., Georgiou E. (2020). "Utilization of Carob Fruit as Sources of Phenolic Compounds with Antioxidant Potential: Extraction Optimization and Application in Food Models." Foods, 9(1), 20. PMID: 31878230.
https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9010020
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