Varieties

Although there are more than one hundred varieties of taro in the species Colocasia esculenta, only two are important to most cooks: dasheen (C. esculenta var. esculenta) and eddoe (C. esculenta var. antiquorum). They are rarely differentiated by name in markets, however. Eddoe forms a relatively small main tuber, the size of a duck egg, with numerous little oval tubers on the stem. These smaller corms, favored by the Chinese and Japanese, are blander, similar to a potato, but with a slightly sweet, nutty flavor. They are often boiled in their jackets and then peeled and eaten. Dasheen has a large main tuber, usually 4 inches/10 centimeters in diameter and 6 to 8 inches/15 to 20 centimeters long, and just a few subsidiary tubers. Both are covered with shaggy brown skin and have distinct rings at regular intervals along their length. Although they are very different in size, they are similar in taste and can be used interchangeably.