I bought a Taro root a couple of days ago at the grocery store.  After consulting the googles, I learned a few interesting things about it:

1. It’s poisonous.

2. If you attempt to peel it, it ejects tiny crystalline needles which cause skin irritation, and lodge in your eyes and take up to three months to heal.

3. It tastes bitter.

These issues are resolved by cooking it.

Apparently in Northern India it is cooked by frying, smashing it and then frying again.  I have been using this method with plantain recently, so rather than changing two variables at once, I decided to apply it to the Taro.

Method:

I started off by using gloves and peeling it using a sharp knife. Next, I sliced it into thin slices (3-5mm). I sautéed the slices in olive oil for about 3 minutes a side - basically until the edged were browning and the middle was starting to look translucent but still white and not browned.  I then took the pieces out, dried them on a piece of kitchen towel, and put them on a chopping board. I smashed them hard using a potato masher, until the ‘skin’ was obviously broken. I sautéed them again for about another 4 minutes a side, until they were golden to brown all over.  Sautéing them is tricky because they tend to curl, so I had to keep pressing them down with a wooden spoon.

Results:

The result was crispy slices, somewhat similar in texture to fried potato although a little more fibrous and fruity.  The flavor was a little nutty, slightly sweet and with a hint of bitterness, although not enough to be unpleasant.  I’m not sure whether the bitterness would be eliminated with more cooking.  Next time I’ll probably try using a lower heat and cooking for longer.

They seem nowhere near as balanced as plantains in terms of flavor or effect - it seems as though they would complement something else quite well, but for my mind didn’t stand too well on their own.