Recipe for 10 Servings

Ingredients:

• 3kg taro (kolokassi)
• 1 ½ kg pork cut into large cubes (preferably bacon and neck)
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree (tomato paste)
• 5-6 red tomatoes, grated or chopped
• juice of 2 lemons
• ½ stick cinnamon
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1 medium onion
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt
• Ground pepper
• Vegetable stock (just enough to cover the taro)

Instructions:

1. Peel taro roots using a sharp knife, wipe, then cut half-way through roots and twist knife so taro cracks away.
2. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add cubed pork and cook until meat is browned on all sides.

Remove meat from the pan with a slotted spoon; set aside.

3. Add the taro to the olive oil remaining in the frying pan; cook briefly the onion and the chopped celery.
4. Return the meat to the frying pan; add the grated tomato and tomato puree and enough vegetable stock to almost cover the ingredients.
5. Bring to the boil, season with salt and black pepper to taste.  Cover and cook until the taro is almost tender.  Then you can pour in the lemon juice and continue to cook until the taro is soft

Chef’s Tips

• When cooking taro, avoid adding salt and pouring in the lemon juice before the taro is almost cooked, because both harden it.
• Taro should always be cut with sharp knife and with a specific technique.
• You NEVER wash taro with water.

Seasonal Food Commodities

Vegetables/Salad/Herbs:

Taro, zucchini/courgette, tomatoes, okra, onions, potatoes, green beans

Fruits:

Grapes, figs, pears, apples, plums, watermelons, melons, carobs.

Nuts / Pulses:

Hazelnuts, pistachios, fresh walnuts, raisins, almonds, lentils, white beans, louvia (black eyed peas), dried broad beans, chickpeas.

Fish:

Trout, freshwater bass, squid, octopus, mullet, whitebait, sea bream.

Poultry / Meat:

Chicken, lamb, goat, beef, pork.

Traditional Dishes:

Fig pie, palouzes (grape must jelly), soutzoukos, epsima (concentrated grape juice), quince paste, carob syrup, pasteli (sesame honey brittle).