For some reason, Price Chopper, a discount grocery store in Ontario that is affiliated with Sobeys, is my town's best source of exotic, foreign or off-beat fruits and vegetables. A regular in their produce department is Eddoes. Eddoes are a root that look similar to a potato but with an outer skin that looks more like coconut. I've bought them before and simply peeled and baked them with a mixture of potatoes, yams, and some other veggies. I bought a bunch this week and after doing a little research into how they're traditionally cooked, I came up with a recipe of my own that tasted pretty darn good.
First, some facts on Eddoes or Taro Root:
- grown as a food crop in West Africa, much of Asia, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and Polynesia
- most known as the main ingredient in the Hawaiian dish, Poi
- juices secreted while peeling the raw Eddoe can cause skin irritation
- the raw Eddoe can be toxic and should only be eaten cooked
- great source of fibre, protein, calcium and phosphorus
The Recipe:
We'll call it 'Mashed Eddoes with Tomato, Celery and Onion', for simplicity sake...
Ingredients:
- 5 or 6 Eddoes, peeled and cut in chunks
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 sticks of celery, diced
- 2 good sized tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper, thinly diced (optional)
- 4 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions:
- peel and wash Eddoes
- cut Eddoes into chunks (2-3 per)
- boil Eddoes until flesh is tender when poked with a fork or knife
- drain and rinse Eddoes
- mash Eddoes with a masher and leave in pot
- in a frying pan, saute onions, pepper and celery until onions are yellow and translucent
- add tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes
- add the contents of the frying pan to the pot of mashed Eddoes and stir
What you get is a great tasting side dish that most would think are mashed potatoes with a distinctively different, tasty flavour. Or, if you're like me, this amount will serve as a full meal for dinner and the next day's lunch...
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