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Subject: Re: Cultivation of Uro`s.
Julius,
I got your recipes, now all I need is the main ingredient. I am going
to check out a Japanese grocery store in Eureka that I hope will carry at
least one of these plants.
Can you please fill in the deffinitions of these terms correctly for me, I'm
a bit confused as to which is which.
Eddoes: Colocacia esculenta-----var. antiquorum
Dasheen: Colocacia esculenta-----Taro
Tannia or yautia: Xanthosoma
I do know that the Colocacia esculenta that Richard sent me is Taro, and is
edible.
Thank you very much for the recipes!
Sue
Good morning Sue!
O.K., here`s the "correct poop" on these names-
(1) Colocosia esculenta var. esculenta :-- Dasheen, taro or "old cocoyam",
and has at least 100 cultivars, and generally has to be grown "wet".The main
central corm develops and thickens, and is the part that is cooked and eaten
(as are the young leaves).
(2) Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum :-- Eddoes; I believe the
cultivar"anyamanya" (African) is this also. It grows "drier" than dasheen.
The centeral corm does not develop, instead it produces numerous smaller
cormlets off the central "mother" plant which are harvested. It`s leaves are
edible with more cooking time, as they "itch" more than dasheen leaves.
(3) Xanthosoma sagittifolia :-- Tannia, yautia blanca, new cocoyam. Like
eddoes, it grows "drier" than dasheen, and also produces cormlets off the
"mother" plant. The leaves of selected cultivars are cooked and eaten in some
areas.
(4) Xanthosoma (?) "violacium" :-- Red coco, yautia lilac. Simular to X.
sagittifolia, and may be a cultivar of it, but cooks with a drier texture.
(5) Xanthosoma (?) atrovirens (according to Deni Bown) :-- Yautia amarilla.
The main corm is used, and should be peeled "deep". I`m still experimenting
with this, as we don`t have it in Trinidad. It has a wonderful flavor,
somewhat like a mixture of peanut and corn flour. Mixed with a little regular
flour, and kneaded into dough, it makes wonderful dumplings for soups! It
works great in accras or fritters, and I`ve seen a photo of it from the
Dominican Republic where it was grated and mixed with grated or puried ripe
plantains, as the covering for "arapas" or meat pies!
This is about the extent of what I know about the commonly available edible
aroids here in Florida. The one that may be available in the north is
eddoes, as it seems to be favored over dasheen in both Orential and Indian
groceries.
Good luck!
Sincerely,
Julius
>ju-bo@msn.com<
P.S. The corms that Richard sent you are eddoes, and would be considered a
variety of taro on Hawaii, but may cook a little "moist"if boiled to be used
in the recipe for taro bread. You could try baking them in their skins, that
may work! I do know that they are great in soup!
I`m going to copy this to Aroid-l, as I think others may enjoy it. J.
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