Taro is unique in that it can be steamed, boiled, baked, fried, sliced, mashed, fermented, chipped and eaten!! It also serves well as a filler or additive in many culinary dishes as well as biscuits, cakes, breads, pastries, ice creams even yoghurt.

Besides the corm, the leaf stalks (petioles) can be chopped and used in stir fries, and the leaves have many uses, on it's own or added into dishes. The leaves (and corm) require cooking to nullify the 'taro itch' (calcium oxalates) found in the raw material. Taro leaves and coconut milk or with corned beef or in Chicken Hoy Sing sauce .....are some of the delicious combinations. For breakfast, taro can be cooked,  mashed with milk, then served.

Not only is it versatile as a table root vegetable, but it may also substitute grains, cooked and mashed to make a flour paste. Because of it's high calcium content, taro lends itself to dairy products such as  ice cream, and supports bacterial fermentation for yoghurt and poi. It is nutritious, has low GI index, high in fibre, high in valuable micro-nutrients, and because of it's numerous small starch granules, makes taro suitable for infants, the elderly and those with digestive ailments ...  (see Nutrition page)

If we were to Believe, that Grains are for ....The Birds .....and The Horses

...and Humanity hasn't reached ...that Level yet...

.....then  One could  say:

" Taro must be  ....the Bread of Humanity" 

"..For one hundred years (1860s through l960s) regrettably Europeans derided taro as a primitive food that should be replaced by bread and potatoes. Those early Europeans were unfamiliar with the root and tree crops found in the Pacific so considered them part of the “uncivilized culture”. That the root crops grew easily, and thus did not necessitate “hard work” to maintain the crop also added to this image. Early European settlers pushed their own foods, namely bread and potatoes, as the “good foods” that should replace taro etc. Though they were not successful in banishing taro from the diet they left a legacy that taro was inferior as a foodstuff (and likewise the stigma of agricultural labour) (Pollock 1989 for Fiji)..." excerpt from Nancy Pollock 2003,Development Studies, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand

Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) has been a  connoisseur of taro for quite some time, here are some links to some of their secret recipes ....they've kept hidden .... until now!!!

Organic Chicken and Thai Green Curry Soup with Taro

http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s1388392.htm

Roasted Rack of Morganbury Beef with (how to make) Taro Chips

http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/s1356848.htm

Yvonne's Category Five Cyclone Lentil Curry

http://www.abc.net.au/farnorth/stories/s1643258.htm

Poi   Island food of taro, uses fermentation .....a Hawaiian favourite

http://www.poico.com  

Taro Recipes   Taro and Coconut Cake,  Taro Leaf and Coconut Soup, Taro Chips, Taro Leaf au Gratin,  Taro Cakes, Palusami (Samoa),

http://www.hawaii.edu/hga/Lessons/maui98/TARO/trecip.htm

Taro Recipe Forum  Some homegrown recipes and taro chewing chit chat  ...

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/asianveg/msg06221546931.html

Assorted Taro Recipes from Recipe Source

 

Sauteed Mixed Vegetables In Taro Nest

Salted Taro Balls

Kulolo (Taro Pudding)*** (Luau)

Taro Root And Garlic Chive Latka

Taro Pieces  (Diabetic Recipe for Taro)

http://hawaiitaro.com/htc_mtb.html

Hawaii Taro Company Recipes  This uses the above taro burger patties.   6 Recipes: Cynthia's Maui Taro Tacos , Taro Burger PuPu,  Taro Parmesan, Taro Wrap,  Taro Stir Fry and  Taro Teri
http://hawaiitaro.com/recipes.htm

Thai Style Taro  Has an informative intro into background/cooking with taro. 2 recipes: Stewed Taro with Green Onions, Taro Cubes in Coconut Milk . Here's an interesting tip : Never taste taro while it is still raw, as the sap in the flesh contains calcium oxalate that irritates mucous linings in the throat. This compound, fortunately, is quickly transformed by cooking. If you have very sensitive skin, wear gloves, or make sure your hands are dry when peeling and cutting taro. Afterwards, warm your hands over a burner for a minute or so, rubbing them together to remove any remnants of starch before washing. (NOTE: Irritation sensitivity varies, from different varieties of taro)

http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/taro.html

Wikimedia Taro  Philippine recipe for taro called 'Sinigang'

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Sinigang

Wikimedia Taro  Taro Fish recipe

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Taro_Fish

Steamed Taro with Chopped Salted Chile Peppers

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2007/02/recipe-steamed-taro-with-chopp.html

Tahitian Pork Curry with Taro

http://www.recipezaar.com/63903

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