Carob Rusk 400g

Product Information

Slice a loaf of hearty wheat bread into half inch pieces, sprinkle with olive oil, and a little bit of salt. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 – 15 minutes. It’s a time-proven formula: rusks are still made the same way today as they were during antiquity. Of course, in the past twice baking was important, even necessary, to keep bread longer without it spoiling. That way, families who could not bake often, or those away from home for extended periods of time like sailors, farmers and shepherds could enjoy some bread with their meal. It’s the reason why rusks were a staple of very poor Aegean island cuisines, like those of Santorini, Ios, Kimolos and Mykonos, as well as many of the Dodecanese islands – all areas where wood was scarce and people only baked bread a few times a year. The antidote to this oxidation is, of course, anti-oxidation. The goal is to maintain a perfect balance between free radicals and the antioxidants in our body, thereby fortifying our organism against natural oxidation that occurs. To strengthen our body’s defense and prevent oxidation, we need a diet rich in antioxidants. Creta Carob was established in 2006 and started its operations in 2011. It is a family company that main focus is the production of different biological products from the Carob Pods. Creta Carob is located in Crete Island in a little village called Argyroupoli. During our production process we combine ancient procedures with new technologies. Our final products correspond to the regulations of the E.U. and received the bio qualification in Greece and in the E.U. from DIO. In Chania, they usexynomyzithra, a local cheese which is produced only in Chania and is something between feta and myzithra.

It has a very strong taste and this you will receive as a treat from the locals in every village, city, restaurant, or coffee shop. Carob, also known as "carob tree" or "Ceratonia siliqua", is a plant with deep roots in human history and nutrition. It is emerging as a superfood due to its rich nutritional value and health benefits.

How does carob taste?

Dakos (also known as rusks) were originally created to preserve bread during the non-harvest season. Dried to a crisp over a period of hours in a low-heat oven, these jaw-breakers could last a year without the need of a single preservative. Summer is slowly coming to an end and I think that vegetables taste even better now, as if the strong summer sunlight gave them a moreintense, deep flavour. They’re sweeter, more aromatic, filled with colour! And obviously, just like every summer, there’s nothing juicier, nothing more sought-after than the famous Greek tomato!

Carob Pudding: Creamy avocados make a naturally rich base for this no-cook Creamy Carob Pudding. Full of good fats for clean energy, it’s also paleo- and keto-friendly. Usually, calcium deficiency in our body results in osteoporosis, due to reduced calcium intake, combined with reduced exercise and smoking. In this condition the bones wear out, become porous and take on a spongy appearance. The sufficient amount of calcium, throughout our life and especially until the age of 20-25 years (especially for women) can reduce it by up to 50%. Instead of wetting the rusk, Cretans like to smother it in olive oil (and sometimes a dash of vinegar), then add chopped or grated tomatoes and top it off with myzythra and xygalo, tangy, soft, ricotta-style cheeses typical to Crete made of sheep’s milk or a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The dish is commonly known as dakos (which is the name of the rusk itself), although it’s alternatively called koukouvagia or lantouristo depending on where you are in Crete. The juices of the tomato together with the olive oil will soften the rusk just enough to make it easy to eat, without softening to the point that it becomes mushy and unpalatable.

Karavas Bakery, Kythira, Ionian Islands

Another study showed that carob extracts were rich in phenolic compounds, had significant antioxidant activity, and reduced the viability of cervical cancer cells (HeLa cells). Furthermore, the “Galhosa” female carob variety had the highest levels of phenolic compounds and the highest antioxidant activity. The phenolic content was correlated with both antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. The findings provide us with new knowledge regarding the health effects of consuming foods supplemented with carob flour. A mixture of feta and myzithra or anthotyros (whey cheeses similar to ricotta) will also work well. Carob trees first grew in Israeli and ancient Egypt thousands of years ago, even taking root in the oldest known piece of literature, “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Critically important as a food source and form of currency, they were truly worth their weight in gold.

Through the extraction process (i.e., solid carob pieces in a liquid environment, i.e., water), it was observed that the boiling time (8-20 minutes) and temperature (80-100 °C) affect the efficiency of carob polyphenols and the overall antioxidant capacity expressed as the percentage of inhibition of free radicals DPPH and ABTS. The optimal conditions for total extraction of polyphenols and tannins were 98.5 °C and 17 minutes. Under these conditions, the inhibition of DPPH and ABTS radicals was 85%, demonstrating the promising use of this biomass as an antioxidant source, which could be used, for example, in pharmaceutical beverages. The preferred flour for Cretan paximadia is barley, which is much darker in color than wheat flour, thus making the dark, heavy and hard Cretan rusks quite an adventure for the uninitiated. The secret to consuming paximadia with safety is to soften them by briefly dipping them in water. Alternatively, you can pour some olive oil on it, add grated tomato, plenty of mizythra (a typical Cretan cheese made of sheep’s and goat’s milk) and a pinch of oregano on top to have the dish which comes in different names in the various regions of Crete, but is commonly known as dakos. Carob, touted as a chocolate alternative, has gotten a bad rap over the years — perhaps understandably, since there’s no reason whatever to replace chocolate. Carob is its own thing entirely. This guide to carob has all you need to know about buying, using, and enjoying it.Carob contains an abundance of fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Fiber promotes digestive health and helps regulate glucose and cholesterol. In addition, carob offers natural sweetness, replacing sugar in various applications, which makes it an ideal choice for those looking for a healthy diet.