JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:32 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:18 pm

JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:34 am Hershey's tastes like chocolate flavoured wax to me.

That's actually a pretty accurate description. And their chocolate syrup doesn't taste like chocolate, although I can't really tell you what it does taste like.

It's what I would have expected Cambodia to come up with if they were trying to copy a chocolate recipe.

Or basically any chocolate-substitute product for people who claim to have a chocolate allergy.

True story - I have a chocolate allergy. To be more detailed, I am allergic to cockroaches, and it is impossible to produce cocoa mass without cockroach parts getting into it in the manufacture process. So chocolate makers have an allowance from their respective country's Health department for chocolate to be a certain percentage of cockroach. I kid you not - Google it if you're skeptical.

It was much more of an issue when I was a kid, I seem to have grown less allergic over time. White chocolate contains no actual chocolate and therefore no, or much less, cockroach, so people with this specific allergy have a preference for white chocolate.

Chocolate made from the beans of the Carob tree ( Certonia Siliqua ) taste OK. I think I have seen the tree growing here in Cambodia.

Some friends were doing this way back in the alternative lifestyle / hippy days of the late 1960 s and 70s



But what exactly is carob?
The carob tree (Certonia siliqua), grown extensively in the Middle East, produces a long pod which, when ground into powder, tastes much like chocolate. Many people cannot tell the difference; others can discern a difference but they prefer to avoid chocolate and are grateful for a close second.

Unlike chocolate, carob is naturally sweet and is three times richer in calcium than chocolate, but with one-third fewer calories and seventeen times less fat. Carob is also a rich source of pectin, the substance which makes jams and jellies “jell.” Recent research indicates that pectin may be helpful in lowering your cholesterol level.

The pectin in the carob is also useful for stopping simple diarrhea. I suggest drinking a tablespoon of carob in a cup of hot or cold water.

Carob powder can replace chocolate or cocoa in any recipe. A chocolate baking square equals about three tablespoons of carob powder.

Carob powder can also be used as a sugar substitute, since it is almost 50% natural sugar. Use it in bread, waffles, cakes, pies, pancakes, hot or cold cereals, or muffins. If the flavor is too “carob-y,” then use part carob and part other sweetener, such as honey.

An interesting historical note is that the city of Pasadena, California, has about 2,000 carob trees along its streets and in its parks and schoolyards, and even around City Hall. During the Great Depression, Seventh-day Adventists planted these lovely evergreen trees around and on the grounds of all the public schools in hopes that school children would eat this free, nutritious food, rather than go hungry. Perhaps they did at the time, if they knew about carob’s benefits, but today the pods are raked into the trash heap, unappreciated, and their benefits unrecognized.

Duncan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:02 pm Chocolate made from the beans of the Carob tree ( Certonia Siliqua ) taste OK. I think I have seen the tree growing here in Cambodia.
...
An interesting historical note is that the city of Pasadena, California, has about 2,000 carob trees along its streets and in its parks and schoolyards, and even around City Hall. During the Great Depression, Seventh-day Adventists planted these lovely evergreen trees around and on the grounds of all the public schools in hopes that school children would eat this free, nutritious food, rather than go hungry. Perhaps they did at the time, if they knew about carob’s benefits, but today the pods are raked into the trash heap, unappreciated, and their benefits unrecognized.

Carob is like decaf.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:19 pm

RickyBobby wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:36 am The only beans I like to eat are when I make chili, and its damn fine chili too.

That's mighty big talkin' there cowboy, ah think them thar words need to be proven at the next chili cookoff.

Alrighty there pilgrim. That's possible, and I might accept, should there be two categories for the entrance; British food, and Normal food.



I had a short video, but don't know how to post that simply and anonymously without linking to my YT.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:08 pm

Duncan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:02 pm Chocolate made from the beans of the Carob tree ( Certonia Siliqua ) taste OK. I think I have seen the tree growing here in Cambodia.
...
An interesting historical note is that the city of Pasadena, California, has about 2,000 carob trees along its streets and in its parks and schoolyards, and even around City Hall. During the Great Depression, Seventh-day Adventists planted these lovely evergreen trees around and on the grounds of all the public schools in hopes that school children would eat this free, nutritious food, rather than go hungry. Perhaps they did at the time, if they knew about carob’s benefits, but today the pods are raked into the trash heap, unappreciated, and their benefits unrecognized.

Carob is like decaf.

Lemons are not Limes.
Peas are not Green String Beans.
Carob is not Cacao.

Since I have been having a sweet tooth lately, all the while on a nutritional kick and reading labels, I noticed that the cheaper chocolate has more sugar in it and is less pure. Next time when comparing, have a look at calories and sugar and carbs per serving.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:40 pm

JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:32 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:18 pm

JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:34 am Hershey's tastes like chocolate flavoured wax to me.

That's actually a pretty accurate description. And their chocolate syrup doesn't taste like chocolate, although I can't really tell you what it does taste like.

It's what I would have expected Cambodia to come up with if they were trying to copy a chocolate recipe.

Or basically any chocolate-substitute product for people who claim to have a chocolate allergy.

True story - I have a chocolate allergy. To be more detailed, I am allergic to cockroaches, and it is impossible to produce cocoa mass without cockroach parts getting into it in the manufacture process. So chocolate makers have an allowance from their respective country's Health department for chocolate to be a certain percentage of cockroach. I kid you not - Google it if you're skeptical.

It was much more of an issue when I was a kid, I seem to have grown less allergic over time. White chocolate contains no actual chocolate and therefore no, or much less, cockroach, so people with this specific allergy have a preference for white chocolate.

Well, thank you. I think you just cured my Chocolate addiction.

RickyBobby wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:32 pm Well, thank you. I think you just cured my Chocolate addiction.

All part of the free service. It's changed now, but when I was a kid the cocoa mass content could be as high as 20% cockroach. Took my small-country-town GP a very long time to work out the allergy connection.

RickyBobby wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 9:19 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:19 pm

RickyBobby wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 2:36 am The only beans I like to eat are when I make chili, and its damn fine chili too.

That's mighty big talkin' there cowboy, ah think them thar words need to be proven at the next chili cookoff.

Alrighty there pilgrim. That's possible, and I might accept, should there be two categories for the entrance; British food, and Normal food.

[images snipped]

I had a short video, but don't know how to post that simply and anonymously without linking to my YT.

Be right over.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:40 pm

JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 8:32 pm

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 7:18 pm

JerryCan wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2019 6:34 am Hershey's tastes like chocolate flavoured wax to me.

That's actually a pretty accurate description. And their chocolate syrup doesn't taste like chocolate, although I can't really tell you what it does taste like.

It's what I would have expected Cambodia to come up with if they were trying to copy a chocolate recipe.

Or basically any chocolate-substitute product for people who claim to have a chocolate allergy.

True story - I have a chocolate allergy. To be more detailed, I am allergic to cockroaches, and it is impossible to produce cocoa mass without cockroach parts getting into it in the manufacture process. So chocolate makers have an allowance from their respective country's Health department for chocolate to be a certain percentage of cockroach. I kid you not - Google it if you're skeptical.

It was much more of an issue when I was a kid, I seem to have grown less allergic over time. White chocolate contains no actual chocolate and therefore no, or much less, cockroach, so people with this specific allergy have a preference for white chocolate.

Wow that’s very interesting.
It’s a shame your not allergic to pies.

Okay, so I thought I should do some research when I spotted this fine product on the shelf at One&One. It's labeled Pork and Beans, right? In tomato sauce, yeah?

So I thought to myself, I should expect to find pork, beans, and tomato sauce in that fine product. I'll take that home, and do me some research.



To be fair to the manufacturer, I did get an instant hit of nostalgia when I went to open this commodity. Wasn't a good hit, though... had to go looking for a can opener. I know, I know, third world country.

On opening the can, I found myself looking at a pool of tinged water, despite having shaken the product prior to opening it. Thinking that didn't bode well, I tore up some bread, suspecting I knew what was about to occur.

I upended the contents of the can on my bread to find literally half of the can was watery pink muck.

The bottom half of the can was mashed beans. I hopefully imagined the pork was in with the beans. There was no pork in the beans, or indeed in the can at all. The ingredients list was printed in a colour that almost exactly matched the background colour, such that a forensics expert with Hollywood magic-pixel-enhancing technology couldn't get data from it. I suspect it said "beans, water, pink food colouring."

I scooped out the beans, onto my bread, ending up with bean paste riding high on shredded bread that had turned into pink slurry after drinking up the pink muck.

Knowing you'd all want to know how it tasted I took one for the team, stirred it together, and searched for the pork that wasn't there. Maybe it was once there, but it wasn't today.

It tasted much like a can of nasty plain-label beans (but not as nice) minus the excess sugar and salt, and the texture was similar to either pasty baby crap or Mexican re-fried beans.

On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst shite you can imagine being a food product, and ten being the finest dining experience in your life, I rate this a Not Good.