no, it's actually Taro.
I was watching the food channel the other day, the best channel ever, next to the Style Network....
...it was a special on Hawaiian foods, or something and they kept talking about Taro, which is pronounced just like Tarrow.
Well here is some information on it:
In Ancient Hawaii, before 1778, about 300 varieties of Taro were grown in Hawaii. In that time, earlier Hawaiians cultivated Taro mixed with other species, such as Erythrina, banana, papaya, coconut, green peas, which ensure the maintenance of the health of Taro species. 20th century brought the monoculture technique, which made Taro very much susceptible to diseases. Now, in the 21st century there are only 7 to 12 varieties in the Taro family. For diseases, such as fungal disease and pocket rot, scientists have not yet found a cure.
Before Taro can be eaten, all parts of the plant must be cooked, in order to break down the needle-like calcium oxalate crystals present in the leaves, stem and corm. These crystals could be extremely irritating to the throat and mouth lining, causing burning and stinging sensation.
The young leaves of Taro are rich in vitamin C and the roots are rich in a starch composed of amylase (28%) and amylopectin (72%). Taro contains thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin, oxalic acid, calcium oxalate and a sapotoxin. The tubers contain aminoacids and high molecular weight proteins which inhibit human salivary (and the porcine) pancreatic amylases. The corms contain the anthocyanins pelargonidin 3-glucoside, cyaniding 3-rhamnoside, and cyaniding 3-glucoside. Hydroxycinnamoyl amides have been obtained from the inflorescences and two new dihydroxysterols have been isolated from the tubers.
Mud from the Taro patch was used as a black dye for lauhala and kapa cloth, while some leaf-stem juice yielded red dye. Also, diluted poi was used as a paste to glue together pieces of kapa cloth.
(Krauss,B.H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
Taro bears a short underground stem called a corm, where the plant stores starch produced by the leaves. In the eight to sixteen months of its development, the corm can grow as large as six inches in diameter. People raise taro to obtain this valuable starchy root. When the plant reaches maturity, it will produce a flower stalk. Near the apex of the flower stalk appears the spathe, or modified leaf, which covers and protects the flower cluster within. Inside grows an erect steam called the spadix. The spadix bears two kinds of flowers: the male and the female flowers. The male flowers lie forward toward the upper part of the spadix, and the female flowers lie toward the lower part. The plant is a hearty succulent perennial herb, with clusters of long heart or arrowhead-shaped leaves that point earthward. Taro grows on erect stems that may be green, red (lehua), black or variegated. The new leaves and stems push out of the innermost stalk, unrolling as they emerge. The stems are usually several feet high. Tiny new plants appear around the base of the root corm. The inflorescence, is an open yellow-white tube, enclosing a spike covered with flowers.
(Lucas,L. 1982. Plants of Old Hawaii)
In Hawai'i, where cultivation has been the most intense, in the early days there were more than 300 varieties of Taro. Approximately 87 of these varieties are still recognized today, with slight differences in height, stalk color, leaf or flower color, size, and root type. Some of the local varieties are Mo'i, Lehua, Ha'akea and Chinese Taro. Depending on the variety, all parts of this sturdy and vital plant are eaten. The Hawaiians cook the immature leaves of the plant in water or steamed them. Also the leaves are served as greens. Sometimes the leaves are cooked with coconut milk (wai a ka niu) in a leaf packet (laulau). The stems are eaten peeled and boiled. The fibrous flesh of the tubers is tough and spongy, ranging in color from white, yellow, lilac-purple and pink to reddish. Grated Taro is also steam or baked with coconut cream to make a pudding called kulolo. The tubers are eaten baked, boiled or steamed, or cooked and mashed with water to make poi. Most important is the starchy root with enough glutinosity to make quality poi. Poi is eaten fresh or allowed to ferment for a few days, often for longer, creating a sour taste considered pleasant, acid, but not alcoholic. The stiffest poi is called locally "one finger" and the most liquid "three fingers". "Two fingers" poi is considered the best by some. The planters know which kind of taro makes the best poi, which variety has the tenderest leaves and which has the necessary medicinal properties.
Taro is often fed to babies as their first whole and natural healthy food, as well as to the elderly, for it is ease to digest and has high vitamin content. Some people call poi the "soul food" of Hawai'i. In the old days, a person might consume up to five pounds of poi per day.
(Lucas,L. 1982. Plants of Old Hawaii).
It is said that Soviet astronauts ate dehydrated Taro in space, adding water to the packets.
The life of Kanaka Maoli, the indigenous Hawai'i people, is linked closely with Kalo. Kalo is believed to have the greatest life force of all foods. According to the Kumulipo, the creation chant, Kalo grew from the first-born son of Wakea (sky father) and Papa (earth mother), through Wakea's relationship with his and Papa's daughter, Ho'ohokulani. Haloa-naka, as the son was named, was stillborn and was buried. Out of his body grew the Kalo plant, also called Haloa, which means "everlasting breath".
Kalo and poi (pounded kalo) are a means of survival for the Hawai'i people. By eating Kalo as poi, one at a time as a ritual around the poi bowl('umeke) at the center of the diners, the protocol of Hawai'i is maintained. This is a ceremony of life that brings people together and supports a relationship of 'ohana (family) and of appreciation with the 'aumakua, the ancestors.
(Krauss,B.H. 1993. Plants in Hawaiian Culture.)
The species is thought to be a native of India and perhaps other parts of southern Asia and from there its cultivation has extended. It reached Egypt about 2,000 years ago and spread into the Pacific area in ancient times. However, it was in Hawaii that the cultivation of Taro, called Kalo, reached its most sophisticated level. Ancient Taro fields can be seen in the Hanaley Valley, Kaua'i, and the remains of others are found in remote areas, now uninhabited, such as Na Pali Coast of Kaua'i.
The generic name "colocasia" is a latinization of the Greek word "kolokasion'. This name has been used, according to the first-century Greek physician and herbalist Dioscorides, for the root of the lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, and borrowed for used as the scientific name for Taro.
"Esculenta" means esculent or edible.
(Green,P.S. 1996. A Hawaiian Florilegium.)
Info above taken from:
http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plantresource_new3.php?rid=139&focus=11
