| Callaloo (; many spelling variants, such as kallaloo, calaloo, calalloo, calaloux or callalloo; Jamaican Patois pronunciation: [kalalu]) is a plant used in popular dishes in many Caribbean countries, while for other Caribbean countries, a stew made with the plant is called callaloo. Cuisines including the plant Callaloo or dishes called callaloo varies throughout the Caribbean. In countries such as Trinidad and Tobago or Grenada, the dish itself is called callaloo, and uses taro leaves (known by many local names such as 'dasheen bush', 'callaloo bush', or 'bush') or Xanthosoma leaves (known by many names, including cocoyam and tannia).
Since the leaf vegetable used in some regions differs, some confusion can arise among the vegetables with the dish itself. This, as is the case with many other Caribbean dishes, is a remnant of West African and Taino cuisine.Etymology of the word callaloo can be traced to Caribbean Patois, with influences from the African word kalúlu. |
