Malagasy cuisine
Two sorts of cooking cohabit in Madagascar; on one side traditional and on the other one which modernises the use of natural resources.
Traditional cuisine is that of the majority of the population, based on the use of raw natural products, whose action on the body is demonstrated by the physical strength of our farmers, because you cannot help wondering when you see them, about the origins of their ability to deliver such a huge volume of work each day, from dawn to dusk, whatever the weather, under the sun, or in the cold with an apparently frugal menu. Nevertheless, the secret of their health comes from rice - their basic food.
Rather let us observe what they do with it: The day begins with the morning rice prepared with a large amount of water; this is soft rice called sosoa - a sort of rice gruel, usually eaten with kitoza- a smoked and grilled meat. Sosoa also provides meals for young children, the sick or convalescent, but also for those who want to keep their digestive system healthy. It can be replaced by another preparation called vary amin'anana, that is soft cooked rice with different kinds of finely cut leafy vegetables, mixed with small pieces of meat, onion and mint leaves: those who visit the depths of country regions have certainly tasted these two dishes commonly prepared and recommended to start the day. At noon, we move on to another method of cooking rice - the ampangoro, that is dry rice with a meat or fish broth. Fromampangoro you extract ranovola using the following process: once the cooking has evaporated the water, the pot is kept on the fire until there is a smell of burnt rice, then water is poured into the emptied pot: this is ranovola, a brown coloured, fragrant liquid used to accompany meals.
The eating of dessert is not widespread: fruit is eaten whenever anyone wants and at any time. The banana, found in all of Madagascar's regions, figures prominently, if not in the top place. When you want sweetness, sugar cane, cut into short sticks and chewed, provides sugar in quantity.
Beside traditional cuisine there is another modern one, using all the resources so far neglected or unknown and permitting each region to creatively use their own natural products which are not found elsewhere: for example where coconuts are common, the flesh is grated, mixed with water, sieved and the juice produced is added to the cooking water to give a new flavour to chicken, pounded cassava leaves, meat, fish and shellfish.
Each population adapts to its environment and therefore in the dry and pastoral south, the population draws strength and vigour by consuming a great deal of curdled milk from its many herds, while in forested areas you can enjoy the benefits of wild honey which serves as an accompaniment to rice. But the staple food can change when rice production is deficient, when it will be replaced by cassava cooked without added sugar or other products and also tubers such as sweet potato or tarot and corn, cooked or grilled on the fire.
It is the restaurant tables, which provide an idea of the country's culinary variety with each region having its specialty: frog legs from Ambatolampy, freshwater fish and duck from Alaotra Ambatondrazaka, strips of fried beef fillet varanga from Antananarivo, crayfish from Ambositra. Those wanting to taste all the varieties of seafood (squid, lobsters, crabs, shrimps, prawns, fish, oysters, mussels) prepared by imaginative chefs with all the sauces possible, can satisfy their gustative curiosity in the restaurants of the coastal cities: the discovery of a country's gastronomy is yet another aspect of tourism. And to put tourists at ease, and not totally changing their eating habits, local restaurateurs are increasingly adapting to this context by providing menus of Chinese, Indian, French food etc. in their establishments in most of the larger towns in Madagascar.
If classic menus can be found, there are also some local specialties, some of which should intrigue tourists such as the following recipe which can be counted among pastries, except it is not baked in an oven: these are the large brown rolls, sold open air, on small street-side tables in the capital: the koban-dravina, a specialty of the Antananarivo area. As the use of the oven is not familiar to everyone, certain artisans have discovered a method of making a kind of local cake, the mixture cooked in water in a large pot for two days over a large wooden fire and constantly stirred. Here is the recipe: rice flour mixed with sugar and whole, unroasted peanuts. The mix is then carefully wrapped in banana leaves and firmly tied with fibres from the bark of a plant before being placed in the cooking pot with water. These rolls wrapped in banana leaves browned by cooking are sold retail and sliced at the request of the customer.
Stimulation of the appetite is also part of the Malagasy food habits and for this, there are two tangy spices: these are ginger and chilli used in different ways. In fact, ginger while flavouring some dishes is also a remedy against colds and flu and perfect for restoring those from a long trip or feeling tired: there is nothing like a good chicken broth with ginger to dispel any of these problems. As for chilli peppers, consumed only by those who can put up with the very pungent taste and burning of the mouth if abused. It is also used against fevers, as when this spice is mixed with broth it promotes sweating which brings down the body temperature.
Visiting Madagascar provides an opportunity for unexpected discoveries apart from the marvels of the natural sites, because besides them there are other ways of getting to know the country by the observation of its traditions and also experiencing the modernised use of its resources.
Text from "Passport for Madagascar" - September, October 2013 - 78th edition
Cooking in Madagascar
Each nation has its own culinary culture distinguishing it from others. The Malagasy have also their own, based on rice.
Their dishes are simple and healthy as they usually consist of meat boiled in broth or brèdes (edible leaves), or grilled to accompany the dish of rice. However, these traditional preparations also follow the modern trend with the widespread use of cooking oil which has replaced tallow for over a century and we are constantly finding new ways to adapt them.
More and more ways are being found to enhance and give a new flavour to some tubers such as voamanga (sweet potato), saonjo (edible arum root) and oviala (kind of wild yams or fruit such as breadfruit). The tubers are cooked very simple in water and the easy peeling off of their skins while eating them is the greatest of all pleasures.
Bread made its appearance very much later with the arrival of Europeans. People here have worked some of the flour as tavolo, rice, corn, to make cakes or koba and their dough mixed with mashed banana and sugar is cooked in water for minutes and wrapped in broad leaves, such as banana, ravinala or longoza.
However, there is another variety of koba requiring a more sophisticated technique and more hours of cooking. The basis of this preparation is always rice flour mixed with sugar and crushed peanuts, then everything is spread on banana leaves, placed next to each other, then wrapped and tied with the fibres from these leaves, producing a volume of 50, 60, 70 to 80 centimetres long which will be placed in a pot of the same length or in halves of metal drums. As an economy measure, several can be prepared at the same time as over two or three days. When all water has evaporated, the koban-dravina is ready for eating: this sweet, dark brown cake is then cut into slices, with its envelope of leaves, and, gradually as it is eaten, reveals with each slice how the mixture is composed. Because of its long preparation, it is understandable why the slices are cut so thinly by the traders in the market place.
Text from "Passport for Madagascar" - 56th edition, January/February 2010
