After seeing the price of dasheen at the market, I opted for the much cheaper taro as I had a craving for what we call ground provisions, in the Caribbean. Dasheen, yams, eddoes, sweet potato and cassava all fall under the ‘ground provisions’ umbrella – also known as ‘food’ in Jamaica. The taro is very similar to our beloved dasheen, the main difference being it’s white in color (when peeled) and a bit milder in taste.

You’ll Need…

2-3 lbs taro (dasheen)
1/4 teaspoon salt
water for boiling the taro
2 medium tomatoes
3 scallions
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 sprigs thyme
3-5 tablespoon olive oil
pinch black pepper
1 onion
1 cup shredded saltfish (salted cod)

To learn how to prepare the salted cod (any dry salted fish) watch this video (click): How To Prepare Saltfish.

Do wear gloves or coat your hands with some vegetable oil as the sap/starch from peeling the taro can cause some irritation to your hands/fingers. Using a sharp knife or potato peeler, remove the other skin off the taro (discard). Also remove any blemishes and cut off any previously cut areas (like the stem area) to expose the fresh interior. Cut into 2 to 3 inch pieces and place in a pot covered with water on a high flame. As it comes to a boil add the salt , turn down to a rolling boil and cook until tender. Taro cooks faster than dasheen, so in about 10-15 minutes it will be fully cooked. Pierce with a sharp knife and if there’s no resistance you know it’s fully cooked.

Drain and set aside as we get to the next step of the recipe..stewing the saltfish!

Prepare the salted fish by boiling in water, drain, rinse with cool water and shred (watch the video mentioned above). Then slice the onion, garlic, scallions and scotch bonnet pepper. Remember you can use more or less scotch bonnet pepper and do wear gloves when handling them (wash your hands with soap and water immediately after).

Heat the olive oil on a medium flame (large sauce pan) and go in with the shredded salted fish. Let that cook for about 3 minutes (low heat) before adding the onion, garlic and black pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes, then add the thyme.

After 2 minutes add the tomato, scallions and cooked taro. Stir well and cook for another 3-5 minutes to infuse the taro pieces with the stewed salted fish.

We didn’t add any salt to the stewing of the salted cod as the residual salt from the curing process will be enough to season this dish. If you want you can also add some bell peppers for extra flavor and vibrancy (with the colours). Besides being very delicious, this dish can be considered gluten free as well.

Do serve warm.. btw this is a one-pot dish!

Vegetarian

Tasty Vegetarian Mashed Yams.

February 7, 2013February 15, 20134 Comments

Did you know that the tuber most people outside the Caribbean call yams are really a milder sweet potato? On the islands we have several varieties of yams and in this recipe I’ll be using Kush Kush, which is probably one of the more harder varieties to source. I recall as a young fella on the islands how excited our dad would be when he came across some Kush Kush, but today I can readily get them at any of the larger Asian grocery stores which seem to be popping up everywhere.

As we have different varieties of yams, so too the taste, texture and starch content. Kush Kush is a much more drier when cooked and it’s texture is somewhat sandy and brittle, so you’ll find that the finished dish will be crumbly as compared to if you used another common variety.

You’ll Need…

3 lbs kush kush yam
1 large onion
1/4 scotch bonnet pepper
2 tables spoon shopped parsley
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

Notes: Be sure to wear gloves or coat your hands with vegetable oil when peeling the yams as they may irritate your skin. You can add additional flavor to this dish by adding some fried bacon or salted cod when you cook the onions.

The first step in preparing this dish is to peel, wash and cut the yams into similar size pieces. Then place the yam pieces in a deep pot with water and bring to a boil. Salt the water, reduce to a rolling boil and cook until tender (about 20 minutes). After 15 minutes, use a sharp pairing knife to pierce the yam pieces and if there’s no resistance, you’ll know it’s fully cooked. Boil as if you’re boiling potatoes. Skim of any frothy residue at the top of the pot when boiling and discard.

As the yam boils, it’s a good time to prepare the other ingredients.

When the yam is fully cooked, drain and crush while it’s still hot (chunky).

In a saucepan heat the olive oil on medium heat, then add the onion and cook for a couple minutes. Then add all the other ingredients and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add the crushed (boiled) yam and give it a good stir.

You have a couple options now. You can heat through so all the flavors marry and you get all the lovely goodness with every bite (2-3 minutes of cooking) Or you can allow it to cook for a longer period, until you start getting a nice sort of crust. Try to serve hot!

This is a lovely vegetarian meal on it’s own, but it’s just as good as a side dish paired with stewed, curry or grilled meats. Remember you can add additional flavor by adding bacon or salted cod fish pieces. If adding bacon or salted cod, cook these items first before adding the onions etc. Remember to wear gloves and to wash your hands immediately after handling scotch bonnet peppers. And if you’re concerned about the raw heat… don’t include any seeds or the white membrane surrounding the seeds.

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Meat & Poultry Vegetarian

The Simplicity And Splendor of Dasheen.

May 27, 2025August 29, 20113 Comments

There’s been a few times while in the produce section at the grocery store pondering over the limited ground provision section, when I’ve been questioned about some of the selections. People are very interested in learning more about the “strange” foods which now occupy space on the shelves… name, where it comes from, how do you prepare it, taste, texture and how to shop for them. Grocers should post a little info card with items that’s not necessarily common to everyday shoppers.

Before you send me “clarification” emails I have to mention that what I used (as it was labelled) is “taro” and not dasheen. Pretty much the same thing if you ask me, but I just wanted to be clear (I’ve being getting buff lately). We were down at the St Lawrence Market this past Saturday and after sampling some of the freshly made oven roasted pork belly which also had that rich smokey taste of bacon and the sort of crispy skin that crackles with fatty goodness… we just had to get some to take home with us. My dad grew up on my great grandparents cocoa and coffee plantation and being there was no electricity or fridge.. a lot of their meats were smoked, salted or brine. As soon as my dad saw the thick slices of the bacon, he spoke about his childhood days and eating this with ground provisions. Yup! The lights went off in my head as I knew I had a taro in my fridge from my grocery trip a couple days back.

You’ll Need..

2 lbs dasheen or taro (peeled and cubed)
1 medium onion slice
1/4 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper (any hot pepper you like)
1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil (or vegetable)
2 cloves garlic sliced
dash black pepper
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 green onion chopped (scallion)
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 lb bacon

The bacon I used was pork belly which was smoked as would bacon, then oven roasted with some sort of glaze. The crispy skin and bit’s of fat will work well with this dish. If pork is not your thing or you’d like to keep this vegetarian, you can omit any meat in the refrying step. Another option instead of the bacon would be pieces of slated cod fish or any sort of smoked meats you like.

The first part of the recipe is basically how to peel, cut and cook taro or dasheen. After which you can mix it with some butter and have it very basic. Or you can certainly refry with bacon or smoke meats as I will show you later and also make it vegetarian by not using any sort of meat. Additionally you can mash as you would potatoes and make a creamy mashed dasheen by adding milk/cream, butter and some fresh ground black pepper. (to peel use a sharp pairing knife or potato peeler)

Peel, cut into pieces (same size for uniform cooking time) and wash under cool water. If you’re using freshly harvested taro or dasheen you may want to wear gloves when peeling to prevent your hands from itching. Then place in a deep pot, cover with water (about 1 inch above the last piece), bring to a boil, reduce your heat to a rolling boil and let cook about 20 minutes or until tender. This is when you’d also add the salt to the boiling pot with the taro.Since there are a few factors which will account for how quickly your dasheen or taro cooks, I cannot guarantee that your cooking time will be the same. I would test after 15-20 minutes using this method… using a sharp paring knife, stick it into a piece of the taro. If there’s no resistance, it means that it’s cooked. Please bear in mind that the top pieces (pieces from the top portion of the actual taro, called the ‘head’… where it was attached to the stems during growth) may take a little longer to cook.

When the taro or dasheen comes to a boil you’ll notice some froth acquire at the top of the pot. Please spoon that out and discard. I believe that’s a combination of starch and some other impurities. While the taro was boiling I prepared the other ingredients for refrying it with.

After about 20 minutes of boiling (with the lid off) I tested to see if the pieces were cooked, then I drained and began the steps involved in refrying. At this point is when you can enjoy with butter or make into a mash as I explained above.

I then placed the butter and oil into a sauce pan (fairly deep) under medium heat, then added the pieces of smoked bacon that I cut into cubes earlier. Allow this to cook for a few minutes, until you start getting crispy edges.

I then added the garlic, onions, slices of scotch bonnet and black pepper. Allow that to cook for a couple minutes to soften and infuse it’s flavor into the entire dish. The final step is to now add the pieces of cooked dasheen or taro, top with the green onions and stir. Allow that to cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. With the natural sugars in the taro, the edges may start to go golden, so you may want to reduce the heat a bit. I love this texture and the taste of the sort of burnt edges, so I allow mine to cook on high heat. That’s just my preference.

So now you know a bit about dasheen and/or taro and I do hope you give it a try the next time you come across it in the grocery store or roadside vendor. There was enough here to serve about 3-4 people as a complete meal.

Oye! before you go… Remember you can watch the cooking videos on the recipe channel and we’d love to interact with you on our Facebook fan page. There’s a few thousand of us already causing commesse on there… so do check it out.

Seafood Vegetarian

A traditional Trinbago “country” dish with baby bananas.

March 5, 2012August 20, 200969 Comments

banana cooked with salted fish caribbean recipe

I’m sure you’ve seen those tiny little bananas in the supermarket… normally called “baby bananas”. But have you ever given much thought as to what people do with these cute little bananas that look like they forgot to grow up? They’re quite tasty when fully ripe and can be enjoyed just as you would a normal banana, but did you know you can also cook them? Growing up in the country-side on the islands, our diet at times would be considered very rustic by some standards. Especially when you consider the amount of ground provisions that would make it on our dinner table. To this day my sisters don’t fancy anything we’d term “ground provisions” (yam, cassava, green banana, eddoes, dasheen.. etc), but my brother and myself are just like my dad.. we can’t get enough.

Back to the “little people” of the banana world. One of the dishes my mom would prepare using these baby bananas, is a quick boil and fry. Today I got a craving for this dish I grew up on as I strolled the aisle of the supermarket and saw these bananas in stock. Bear in mind that this is entirely from memory, as my mom was en route to New York to visit my brother so I couldn’t do the normal phone call when I need help with a recipe.

I truly hope this is not one of those dishes that’s slowly fading away from the framework that makes up our rich culinary heritage, as we make way for the fast food generation. This is very simple to prepare, hearty and amazingly tasty!

You’ll Need…

1-2 lbs of baby bananas
1 medium onion sliced
pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon olive oil
couple slices of hot pepper (I used scotch bonnet) – optional
1 clove garlic crushed
4 oz dry salted fish (I used boneless Pollock)
1 scallion (garnish)

Couple tips before we start.

1. Try to use the bananas before they go ripe (bright yellow), the ideal colour is a greenish yellow and they must be a bit firm if you were to press on them gently. If they’re over-ripe it will be difficult to work with and will not produce the same type of texture we’re hoping to achieve.

2. You can cook the bananas in advance and even place it in the fridge, so they’re cool to the touch when you have to peel them.

Separate the bananas into singles if they came in a bunch, place in a deep pan and cover with water. Put on a medium to high heat and bring to a boil. Pay close attention to this as you must turn off the stove as soon as it comes to a boil or you’ll risk it going too mushy. Remove from the hot water immediately and allow to cool. When cool, peel away the skin so you’re left with the creamy insides of the banana. You’ll notice a couple things happening as the bananas cook… they will change colour (go black in some spots) and they will split. When they split, it’s a good indication that they’re ready to be removed from the boiling water.

banana cooked with salted fish caribbean recipe

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While this cools, put the dry salted fish in a fairly deep bowl and pour in enough boiling water to cover it. This will do a couple things for us. It will make the fish more tender to work with and it will remove most of the salt which was used to preserve it. When the water cools (as we did when we made saltfish buljol) squeeze away any remaining water and shred into flakes.

Back to the bananas…they should be cool now, using the “split” that occurred during the quick boiling process as a starting point peel back and remove the skin, then place a bowl and get ready for putting everything together.

In a pan on medium heat pour in the olive oil, then when it’s hot add the flakes of shredded salt fish. Allow this to cook for about 4 minutes so the oil gets infused with the flavour of the saltfish. Then add the sliced onions, crushed garlic, black pepper and if you opt for it.. the slices of hot pepper. This should cook for about 4-6 minutes or until the onion has gone soft and started to go brown. Now add the cooked bananas and tablespoon of butter,. Gently stir everything around and allow to cook on low heat (uncovered) for about 3-5 minutes (when you think it’s been coated with everything in the pot.

* The bananas I used were a bit too ripe (see in pictures).

* If you don’t like saltfish (we can’t be friends then) or prefer not to have it in your diet, feel free to leave it out. It’s still a very tasty dish. However I would recommend using a non-stick pan in that case and allow it to cook a bit longer to encourage the heat to interact with the sugars in the banana and form a nice caramel crust on everything.

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The big question of the night is… What do they call these tiny little bananas, besides baby bananas? Now my spelling may be completely wrong as I’m trying to wor it out… “chikito“. You don’t think that the Chikita” brand of bananas got their company name from this little banana, do you?

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