Taro

Of the five or six species of the family Araceae known in Madeira by the name of inhames (taro), says the distinguished botanist Carlos Azevedo de Meneses, only two seem to us to deserve special mention, because of how common they are and the benefits the inhabitants derive from growing them. They are Colocasia antiquorum and C. esculenta.

The first species, which is said to have been introduced to Madeira in 1640, has been valued as a food plant since the most remote times. The peoples of Egypt and ancient Greece already made wide use of its elongated, tuberous, starchy rhizomes at their tables, and even exported them to other Mediterranean countries.

Madeirans distinguish two varieties of Colocasia antiquorum, calling one white taro (inhame branco) and the other red taro (inhame vermelho). The red variety differs from the white in that the veins on the underside of its leaves are slightly reddish and the inside of its rhizomes is pink or pale red, a colour that becomes more pronounced after cooking.

White taro is found in waterlogged places; red taro needs less moisture and can even grow in dry places, provided care is taken to water it frequently.

The taro that in some parts of the island is called ‘of the woods’ or ‘of the bracken’ (do mato, da feiteira) belongs to the red variety. It comes from land at high altitude that receives irrigation water only every 8 or every 15 days.

Taro (inhame) is generally harvested in March and April, and the plant is propagated from small fragments of its tubers, each of which must have an aerial shoot attached, stripped of its leaves. Whenever possible, the ground intended for planting is manured with farmyard dung or with vegetable matter.

The taro can be lifted once a year has passed since planting, but some people are in the habit of leaving it in the ground longer, sometimes for two years, so as to obtain larger rhizomes.

Red taro cooks more easily than white. White taro should only be considered fit for eating once it has been over the fire for at least five hours. Some physicians have sought to attribute the cases of elephantiasis observed in certain parts of the island to the heavy consumption of undercooked taro there.

To date, as far as we are aware, no naturalist has yet observed flowers on the white and red taro of Madeira. This should perhaps be attributed to the fact that these plants are pulled up very young, or before the flowering season. In the Algarve, according to Brotero, taro flowers during the summer.

The inhabitants of Funchal seek out red taro more than white, because it is tastier, less acrid and easier to cook. White taro is eaten almost exclusively by the rural population.

Taro cultivation covers a large area in both the north and the south of Madeira, but it is less important than that of potatoes and sweet potatoes. It is grown on the largest scale on the low-lying land bordering the rivers and streams, and over a good part of their beds.

Colocasia esculenta, commonly known as inhame de enxerto (‘grafted taro’), is far less cultivated than C. antiquorum, although its rhizomes are tastier and richer in starch than those of that species.

Grafted taro, like red taro, needs damp or frequently irrigated ground, though not waterlogged, and it too is propagated from fragments of the rhizomes, each of which must have a stem or aerial shoot attached.