Karamelli tal-Harrub or Carob Sweets

Karamelli are made from the juice collecting from the fruit produced by the carob tree.

Leon Camilleri

The karamelli are sweets for Good Friday. The karamelli are made from carob and they are hard. You can find them during Holy Week. The karamelli are very good to eat. They are hard. People love to eat them.

Cherise Micallef

Carob sweets are made from carob, the fruit from a large carob tree. They are traditionally made in the Maltese Islands. These carob sweets are most popular during the days of Lent. During Holy Week and especially on Good Friday, street hawkers are found in street corners calling out, ‘’Karamelli tal-Harrub”.

Daniel Azzopardi

Karamelli are another traditional lental sweet food. Nowadays these are made from brown sugar but years ago these were made from carob. That's why karamelli are brown in colour.

Martina Pace

The shape of the ‘’Karamelli tal-ħarrub’’ are squares. ‘’Karamelli tal-ħarrub’’ are popular in Malta. When the ‘’Karamelli tal-ħarrub’’ were not ready there were black. ‘’Karamelli tal-ħarrub’’ are sweets of Lent. But they have sugar.

Shaisen Muscat

The carob tree or Ħarruba, as it is well known in Malta, is a common tree on the Maltese Islands. This tree is found in its natural habitat, though have been destroyed due to infrastructure. The carob tree is one of the oldest tree in the Mediterranean and in Malta it is protected by law.

When its fruit are dry they darken and at this stage they are boiled in water and pressed to make a delicious syrup. Sugar is also added.

This syrup is used to make karamelli and it is also used as a natural remedy when people have a bad cold. A tablespoon full of carob syrup is stirred into a mug of hot water and drank by the patient. It is very soothing and it helps to clear the chest too.