All countries in the world have a typical soup that represents the culture and gastronomic products of the earth in that place. I would spend hours mentioning some of them, say the Hungarian gulah, Caldo verde Portuguese, Brazilian Feijoada. In Venezuela we have the so called Hervidos or Sancochos, they are soups that mix a variety of vegetables that are cultivated in our land.

We have pumpkin, plantains, taro roots, yucca, yam, okume, mapuey and other kind of vegetable that I don't know the name in english. We use the taro roots that give a thick consistency to the soup, it is delicious and very nutritive.

The taro root or colocacia suculenta also known kalo or godere is mainly cultivated because their leaves are edible and have incredible properties superior to spinach and chards leaves. The taro is very rich in iron, proteins, vitamin C and A. In Venezuela people make soups with this root to combat anemia.

You can eat this root in soups, fried as chips, as puree, in cakes, pancakes. It is very cheap and easy to find in the shops. One thing to have clear is that can not be eaten raw because produce gastric problems. It is delicious and a very good option to substitute potatoes because it has a very low glycemic index.

To make this soup we need:

• a portion of the following vegetables:
• 1/2 kilo of taro root
• 1 kilo of meat for soup cut in pieces
• 1 litre of chicken stock made from chicken bones
• 2 litres of water
• 1/4 pumpkin
• a piece of green plantain
• 2 okume ( a variety of taro root)
• 2 yelow apios ( a kind of yellow turnips typical of south America)
• 1 zuchini
• 2 tender corncobs in pieces

We also need the following seasoning all cut in small pieces:

• chillies some hot and some sweets
• 2 onions
• chives
• garlic
• coriander leaves
• 1 celery stalk

Preparation:

• peel all the vetables and cut in small pieces

• in a big saucepan add the chicken stalk, the water and cook the meat until tender
• add the cut vegetables
• cook the vegetables until they are soft and the soup is thick
• add all the seasoning and cook for 10 more minutes
• serve hot with more coriander leaves on the top