Dasheen (also called taro) is grown across Dominica in kitchen gardens and on hillside farms. The leaves are big, heart-shaped, and deep green. When you cook them down slowly in water, they turn the whole pot a beautiful bright green. Add coconut milk and the soup becomes creamy and rich, with a slightly earthy, nutty taste.
Callaloo soup is often eaten for breakfast or lunch, especially on Saturdays when families cook together. Different cooks add different things - some add saltfish, some add crab, some add dumplings called 'provision'. Grandmothers on the island are famous for their own special recipes, passed down for generations.
The dasheen plant is also an important crop for Dominica. The root (called the corm) can be boiled and eaten as a starchy vegetable, a bit like a potato. Together with other local crops like breadfruit, plantain, and sweet potato, dasheen is part of what Dominicans call 'ground provisions' - the vegetables grown right there in the earth.