Meaning
A large root of the taro family, with dark-flecked, dense, greyish flesh — one of the 'ground provisions' boiled in soups and stews or served with the main meal. Filling and starchy, dasheen is a staple of Jamaican country cooking, dug from the provision ground and cooked much like yam and coco, and its big broad leaves are also cooked as callaloo. Close kin to coco, it is a humble, everyday food, cheap, hearty, and always on the country table.
Examples
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Boil di dasheen fi di Saturday soup.
Boil the dasheen for the Saturday soup.
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Dasheen heavier than yam.
Dasheen is more filling than yam.
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Wi plant dasheen a di back a di yard.
We planted dasheen at the back of the yard.
Origin
Thought to come from the French 'de Chine' (from China), a name that travelled through the Caribbean for this taro-family tuber.
How it’s used
One of the family of ground provisions with coco, yam and sweet potato. Its cousin's young leaves are used as greens elsewhere in the Caribbean.