Taro, taro, taro
To say that taro does not loom large in most Americans’ culinary universe would be an understatement. Yet taro is eaten my millions of people around the world and is the basic food for many of them. And you’d better know your taro. But the Chinese, the Japanese and the Samoans all had their own kinds of taro and never the quartrain did meet. They (the tubers, that is) looked different, cooked differently, and tasted different.
In Hawaii, the Hawaiians had traditionally had many, many varieties. For a splendid site by John Cho that celebrates some ornamental varieties bred in Hawaii using cultivars from elsewhere, check out this. And for his Facebook page dedicated to taro, go here.
And while you are at it, don’t miss some of his other gems. Early photos of taro from the Hawaii State Archives; photos that illustrate how rice displaced taro in late nineteenth century Hawaii. And lots of great links.
(Thanks to Luigi of Agricultural Biodiversity for his post that alerted me to John Cho’s work)
I’ve only had taro, I think, as an ingredient in taro pudding, a savory dimsum. It’s something that I’d enjoy occasionally but not regularly. Maybe the Polynesians would feel the same way about my beloved grits.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
They almost certainly would. Sometime you should smell taro cooking. It has a lovely aroma, reminiscent of chestnuts. Many of the ways of cooking taro are not to European/American taste though.