Lesson 6.15.2 TARO – Food Value

 


FOOD FOREST COURSE

AGRO-ECONOMY Lesson 6.15.2 

TARO – Food Value

 

Food value

Harvested taro corms can be stored in a dry airy place for two to three weeks at the most.  After this time, they will rot.  It’s best to wash the taro after harvesting and then allowed to dry.  As with most of these tuberous vegetables it is best to roast or cook them whole to preserve nutrients.  When cooled they can then be peeled and used for cooking.

Cocoyams have a much longer keeping time and I’ve had them hanging around for a couple of months. They simply dry out after a while.

 

Poi

Poi is a lactic ferment, which helps to preserve the taro a little longer in the hot tropics.  Eating poi is even more beneficial for good health as beneficial bacteria are introduced into the gut to aid digestion.

Simply boil up the whole taro, cool and peel.  Mash with a wooden pounder until reduced to a mash.  Apparently, a potato masher will not do the job as well as a good pound with a wooden implement. Leave the taro to ferment for two to three days at room temperature then place in the fridge.  I have also tried making poi with taro flour I had bought in an Asian food store.  Just add some water to make a thick slurry and leave to ferment for two to three days and place in the fridge.

Poi makes baked goods such as cakes and bread, moist and tasty.  Poi can also be eaten as is on the dinner plate and it comes in three grades.  It is classed as one fingered, two fingered and three fingered pois!  Poi is a great health food and when you grow taro in your garden you can make your own ferment.  Healing qualities such as relief for gastro-intestinal troubles are also attributed to this much prized food.

Greens

The leaves can be picked two to four weeks after planting and they take about six weeks to mature.  This is of course in the summer when growth is at its best.  The leaves can be boiled, pulverised in a blender, then added to soups, casseroles, and stir-fries. They are traditionally used as food wraps and cooked in a Mumu or cooking pit.  The young unfurling leaves can be cooked as they are, but the older ones need to be peeled like stringing rhubarb.  The stalks can then be chopped and boiled, and they taste like beans.  The larger leaves will need to have the main bottom rib removed so place the stalks and the leaves upside down and fold in half.  Remove the rib by slicing it off.  The young leaves will take five to ten minutes to cook and the older ones fifteen to twenty minutes before the oxalate crystals have been rendered neutral.  This process of timing is important, as I know of a few instances where people have been caught out!  If a tingling sensation can be felt in the back of the throat, be sure to boil it for a while longer, Janet!

It seems a bit of a paradox when we’ve been taught for so long to steam our greens in very little water to conserve nutrients, but taro will turn this bit of advice upside down.  Boiling the leaves in plenty of boiling water will keep many of the vitamins intact.  It is a very rich source of vitamin A (a fat-soluble vitamin) and therefore we need some coconut cream to serve with it to enable this vitamin to be utilised by our body.  This is exactly what islanders have been doing since time immemorial.  So, when you see all these recipes with coconut milk or cream do not be put off as this has been a very health-giving food with a proven track record. Tinned coconut creams I’m not exactly sure of at this stage, I heard that very hot water is used in the extraction process, and this would kill enzymes and other life-giving forces.  We tend to use tinned coconut cream on a regular basis with no apparent ill effects, but who can trust processed food these days?  Coconuts will not grow well if at all in a sub-tropical climate so this one disadvantage we must live with.  Those who live in the tropics surely have a winning edge there.

Text from the roots, Elisabeth Ferkonia (Aus.) PDC studied with Bill Mollison,



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