Taro first spread across the world in prehistory, notably aboard Polynesian canoes. Today, from Pacific islands to African savannas, it is the staple food for millions. It is best eaten well cooked, because raw it is toxic. With a flavor reminiscent of sweet potato, it is so nutritious that NASA even envisions growing it hydroponically… in its future space colonies.
Omnipresent in Nigeria
Boiled, fried, mashed… In Nigeria, the world’s leading producer, the cocoyam is enjoyed in a thousand and one ways, including as a thickener in soups and stews. And today, in the kitchens of Lagos, some chefs are using this root to invent new dishes, such as taro purée with shea butter or caramelized taro.
Quenching in Taiwan
In Taiwan, where bubble tea was invented in the late 1980s, a recipe is taking the scene by storm: taro milk tea. Ground into powder, the tuber, from a local variety grown in Dajia on the west coast, gives—as its cousin ube—creamy texture to the drink and a lavender hue that is very popular on social media.
Cult Status in Hawaii
According to a Hawaiian legend, Colocasia esculenta, called here kalo, is humanity’s elder brother. Cultivated thanks to an ingenious system of flooded terraces—the loʻi—taro is regarded as an ancestor to be respected. It is, for example, considered rude to argue in front of a bowl of poi, a fermented paste prepared from boiled and mashed taro.
➤ Article published in GEO magazine n°570, “Cambodia”, August 2026.
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