Remember carob? You probably do if you’re of a certain age. If you were around in the 1970s and 80s, you witnessed carob’s heyday in the United States, when it made its debut as a healthy chocolate alternative, appearing in “health food” stores and vegetarian cookbook recipes.
Carob was touted as a healthier version of chocolate, but it never quite caught on—maybe because no one was really fooled. Earthy and grainy, carob doesn’t especially taste like chocolate and eventually fell out of fashion as a chocolate substitute. However, now it’s reappearing as a “functional food,” popping up as an ingredient in items such as coffee alternatives and brownie mixes, as well as in powder form to add to recipes.
