Callaloo

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Callaloo

Callaloo (sometimes calaloo) is a Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
dish that is most popular in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an island country in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles....
, with variants in Guyana

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America....
, Barbados

Barbados

Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Continental Island-island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Located at roughly 13? North of the equator and 59? West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles....
, Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an island group or archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France....
, Grenada

Grenada

Grenada is an island nation that includes the southern Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines....
, Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Haitian Creole language- and French language-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antilles archipelago....
, Dominica

Dominica

The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north/northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique....
, and Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
.

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Encyclopedia

Callaloo (sometimes calaloo) is a Caribbean

Caribbean

Trinidad and Tobago

Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America....
, Barbados

Barbados

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an island group or archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at , with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres . It is an overseas department of France....
, Grenada

Grenada

Haiti

Dominica

The Commonwealth of Dominica, commonly known as Dominica, is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. To the north/northwest lies Guadeloupe, to the southeast Martinique....
, and Jamaica

Jamaica

Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaf eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender Petiole s and shoots....
, traditionally either amaranth

Amaranth

Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth or pigweed, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately 60 species are presently recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to gold....
(known by many local names including callaloo or bhaaji), or taro

Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
or Xanthosoma
Xanthosoma

Xanthosoma is a genus of about 50 species of tropical and sub-tropical arums in the flowering plant family, Araceae, all native to tropical Americas....
species (both known by many names including callaloo, coco, tannia, bhaaji, or dasheen bush). Because the leaf vegetable used in some regions may be locally called "callaloo" or "callaloo bush", some confusion can arise among the different vegetables and with the dish itself. Outside of the Caribbean, water spinach

Spinach

Spinach is a flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm....
is occasionally used.

Trinidadians primarily use taro

Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
/dasheen bush for callaloo, while Jamaicans use the name callaloo to refer to amaranth, and use it in a plethora of dishes and also a drink ('callaloo juice').

Plant sources for Callaloo leaves

Taro
Taro

Taro , more rarely kalo , gabi in The Philippines and dalo in Fiji is a tropical plant grown primarily as a root vegetable for its edible corm, and secondarily as a leaf vegetable....
- also called dasheen in the West Indies the leaves of this root crop are used in the Trinidadian version of the dish
Tannia or Malanga
Malanga

Malanga may refer to:*Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer*Corrado Malanga, Italian chemist and researcher in alien abduction phenomena...
called calalu in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
Amaranth
Amaranth

Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth or pigweed, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately 60 species are presently recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to gold....
species include Amaranthus spinosus used in the West Indies; A. flavus is a yellow variety used in Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
and known as caruru
Pokeweed
Pokeweed

For the Hawaiian fish salad, see Poke .The pokeweeds, also known as poke, pokebush, pokeberry, pokeroot, polk salad, polk sallet, inkberry or omb?, comprise the genus Phytolacca, perennial plants native to North America, South America, East Asia and New Zealand....
species, Phytolacca octandra or "West Indian foxglove" (no relation to garden foxglove, species Digitalis
Digitalis

Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous Perennial plant, shrubs, and Biennial plant that are commonly called foxgloves....
)
Nightshade species, Solanum
Solanum

Solanum, the nightshades, horsenettles and relatives, is a large and diverse genus of annual plant and perennial plants. They grow as forbs, vines, sub-shrubs, shrubs, and small trees, and often have attractive fruit and flowers....
nodiflorum
Water spinach, Ipomoea
Ipomoea

The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the family Convolvulaceae, with over 500 species. Most of these are called "morning glory", but this can refer to related genera also....
aquatica (a form of morning-glory)

Callaloo is almost always made with okra

Okra

Okra , also known as ladyfinger and gumbo, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae , valued for its edible green fruits. Okra's binomial nomenclature is Abelmoschus esculentus; it is occasionally referred to by the synonym, Hibiscus esculentus L....
and dasheen or water spinach Ipomoea aquatica. There are many variations of callaloo which may include coconut milk

Coconut milk

Coconut milk is a sweet, milky white cooking base derived from the meat of a mature coconut. The color and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high coconut oil content and sugars....
, crab

Crab

Crabs are Decapoda crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax....
, Caribbean lobster

Spiny lobster

Spiny lobsters, also known as langouste or rock lobsters are a family of about 45 species of Achelata crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia....
, meat

Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
s, chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili pepper is the fruit of the plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the Solanaceae, Solanaceae. Botany considers the plant a berry bush....
s, and other seasoning

Seasoning

Seasoning is the process of imparting flavor to, or improving the flavor of, food. Seasonings include herbs, spices, and all other condiments, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings"....
s such as chopped onions and garlic. The ingredients are added and simmered down to a somewhat slimy (from the okra) soup or stew consistency. When done, callaloo is dark green in color and is served as a soup or a side dish which may be used as a gravy for other food.

Callaloo is widely known throughout the Caribbean and has a distinctively Caribbean origin, created by African slave

Slavery

Slavery is a form of forced labor where a person is compelled to Labor for another . Slaves are held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase, or birth, and are deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive Remuneration in return for their labor....
s using ideas of the indigenous people along with both African (okra) and indigenous (Xanthosoma) plants (See Palaver Sauce

Palaver sauce

Palaver sauce or Palava sauce is a type of stew widely eaten in West Africa, including Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. The word comes from the Portuguese language and means a talk, lengthy debate or quarrel....
for the West African dish). Trinidadians have embraced this dish, from their ancestors and over time have added ingredients such as coconut milk to improve its excellence. Callaloo is mostly served as a side dish, for Trinidadians it usually accompanies rice, macaroni pie, and a meat of choice. This meal is typically prepared and eaten for a Sunday lunch.

Callaloo

Plant sources for Callaloo leaves

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