Characteristic products
Arriving between 100 and 500 AD, Austronesian sailors from present-day Insulindia were the first humans to settle in Madagascar. Coming by pirogue, they brought with them numerous products from Asia, including rice, bananas, cabbage and yams. When they landed on the island, they also drew on local resources and hunted extensively a megafauna made up of animals that would soon become extinct, such as the elephant bird - a cousin of the ostrich - as well as giant lemurs, dwarf hippopotamuses and various other species. The Austronesians also practice slash-and-burn agriculture - known as tavy - which is causing primary forests to retreat. The zebu, a species of bovine, was introduced to the island around 1000 AD by settlers from East Africa, who brought with them other products such as sorghum, certain varieties of legumes such as baramba peas - or ground peas - and goats. Zebu milk was also included in the Malagasy diet.
With the European discovery of the Americas, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, corn, peanuts, beans and manioc arrived on the island, while the Malagasy sold rice, which was exported to North America. At the end of the 19th century, Madagascar became a French colony, producing a number of exotic products for metropolitan France. These included vanilla, coffee, tea, cocoa and spices such as cloves and pepper. It was during this period that vanilla - an orchid native to Mexico - was introduced and intensively cultivated in Madagascar. By the 1920s, the country was the world's leading producer. The price of the pods - between €350 and €650/kg - is explained by the fact that the flowers are pollinated entirely by hand, as the species of bee that does this in nature is not found on the island.
Rice (vary) is the staple of the Malagasy diet. It is generally eaten cooked in water, known as "dry" or vary maina, or transformed into porridge with more liquid (vary sosoa). As the centerpiece of the table, rice is most often accompanied by a dish in sauce known as laoka. Vegetables include many "brèdes", a general term for leafy vegetables, sometimes from vegetable plants such as sweet potatoes or pumpkins. These include morel brède (also known as brède martin or anamamy), brède mafane or anamalao, as well as anandrano (watercress) and anatsonga (mustard greens). Sweet potato, yam, Chinese cabbage, pumpkin, manioc, millet and corn also feature.
Garlic, onion, ginger, tomato, turmeric, cloves, chilli and pepper - including the precious Voatsiperifery pepper - are used to season a multitude of dishes. The most common condiment is probably sakay, a fierce pepper puree. But let's not forget achard - so popular in the Indian Ocean - a condiment of Indian origin made from mangoes, citrus fruit and other fruits marinated in a vinegar spice blend. Lasary often refers to a salad of green beans, cabbage, carrots and onions in vinaigrette, used as a side dish or garnish, for sandwiches for example.
The Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel border Madagascar's coastline. In the markets, you'll find tuna and shark, crabs and lobsters. Fish and shrimps are dried and transported to the cities. A la carte: lobsters, slipper lobsters, crabs, shrimps, oysters, sea urchins, mussels, clams. Fish will be served both on the seashore and in the open country. You'll be able to sample sea bream, tuna, grouper, shark, trout, carp, pike, captain, daisy, etc. Madagascar is the island of a thousand lakes and rivers: freshwater fish - notably tilapia - and crayfish abound.
We mustn't forget to mention a most unexpected project dreamed up by three Frenchmen: to produce Madagascan caviar. Partners and entrepreneurs Alexandre Guerrier, Christophe and Delphyne Dabezies embarked on this adventure in 2009 on the shores of Lake Mantasoa, perched at an altitude of 1,400 m to the east of Tana. Beluga sturgeon, as well as Persicus and Nudiventris, are imported from Russia in the form of fertilized eggs and hatch in the fish nursery. An unspoilt natural environment, with a lake of pristine waters, ideal for quality breeding. By 2022, Maison Rova will employ 300 people. Foie gras is also produced, notably in the small commune of Behenjy. A delicacy often too expensive for local budgets, it is particularly popular with French expatriates on the island.
Indeed, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, and food security on this large island remains critical, with episodes of severe famine since 2021. So it's hard to paint a general picture of local eating habits, as they vary so much from region to region. Traditionally, breakfast is taken early, at around 6am-7am, but in hotels, of course, breakfast times are more flexible and offer more sweet specialties, which are rarely eaten by the Malagasy. Lunch is around 12pm and dinner around 6pm. But once again, the range is wide. The gargotes are never empty, and meals can be taken at any time. These small, well-kept hotely gasy usually offer rice with vegetables, meat, fish or shellfish (depending on the region) and fruit, for just a few euros. Western restaurants in major hotels are obviously more expensive. There is also a wide variety of exotic restaurants - mainly in the capital - particularly Asian ones (Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, etc.).
Classics of Malagasy cuisine
To accompany the rice, laoka is served. This term encompasses a wide variety of dishes in sauce with a host of ingredients (peas, meat, poultry, fish, seafood, vegetables) and toppings (tomato, coconut milk, zebu milk, chili pepper, etc.). Among the most common recipes are hen'omby ritra (spicy beef stew with tomato), voanjobory sy henakisoa (potato peas with pork), ravimbomanga sy patsamena (sweet potato leaves simmered with dried shrimp) and trondro gasy(freshwater fish - usually tilapia - with tomato). Ron'akoho sy sakamalao is a chicken dish cooked in a light ginger broth.
More surprising combinations include henakisoa sy amalona, pork and eel in tomato sauce, or crab sy henakisoa, a mixture of crab and pork with onions and lots of herbs. Pork is also enjoyed with crushed cassava leaves(henakisoa sy ravitoto) or mixed bredes(henakisoa sy anamamy). Brèdes are also eaten in soup with rice(vary amin'anana) or zebu meat(romazava sy hen'omby), garnished with tomato, garlic, ginger and shallot. There is also a chicken variant.
Akoho sy kabaro saosy is a chicken dish in sauce with white beans. Coconut rice, often colored with turmeric, can be enjoyed all over the island. Malagasy street food includes a wide variety of fritters and grilled meats. Masikita are small skewers served with sweet potatoes, cooked manioc and a spicy sauce. Despite its name, "caca-pigeon" is simply a variety of vermicelli-shaped crackers. Asian-influenced nems and sambos (samoussas) are also on offer. The shape changes, but the contents of these two types of fried food are usually meat, vegetables and herbs.
Desserts and drinks
There are few sweets to be found in Madagascar, but you can enjoy the classic koba ravina, a dessert made from a paste of glutinous rice flour, banana, peanuts and brown sugar, all steamed for a long time in banana leaves, until the sugar caramelizes. There are also sweet potato fritters(mofo bageda), thick pancakes made with rice flour(mofo gasy), sometimes with coconut milk(mofo gasy coco) and simple fritters(menakely), shaped like rings. Godrogodro is a very dense, caramelized cake made with rice flour and coconut milk, rich in spices (nutmeg, vanilla, etc.) and extremely nourishing.
Sweets are often eaten during the day. For a sweet finish to the meal, fresh fruit is preferred, as the island's varied climate offers great agricultural possibilities. These include pineapples, bananas, guavas, mangoes, coconuts and, of course, lychees, of which Madagascar is the world's 5th largest producer. On the plateaus, the milder temperatures are well suited to the production of strawberries, apples, peaches, avocados and oranges. Guava, passion fruit and pineapple juices are popular, as are the pleasantly tart tamarind and baobab juices.
It's important to note that tap water is not drinkable in Madagascar, but there are many brands of bottled spring water, both still and sparkling. The Malagasy also prepare ranon'ampango: hot water is added to a base of rice stuck to the inside of the cooking pot and left to boil like an infusion before filtering this brown water with a slightly toasted aftertaste. Coffee grows on the eastern side of the island and is regularly drunk for breakfast, served black or with sweetened condensed milk from the street stalls. Black tea and lemongrass-eucalyptus infusions are also popular.
Beer is a popular drink in Madagascar. Three Horses Beer or THB is the Malagasy beer par excellence, brewed on the island since 1956. It has been awarded several gold medals by the Monde Sélection in Brussels. Gold is a little more expensive, but also stronger and tastier, not forgetting Queen's, which is also blond. The island also produces a small amount of wine, of varying quality, on the hillsides of Fianarantsoa, Antsirabe and Ambalavao
The term toaka gasy refers to all the rums, industrial or artisanal, that are produced on the island. There are a number of products, such as Rhum Dzama, a local dark rum, to be drunk in moderation as a rhum arrangé: planteur, it is 52°. Or Rhum Cazeneuve, a white rum that can be enjoyed as a punch with two ice cubes or a dash of coconut milk to make the famous "coconut punch". Many rums are blended with all kinds of fruit, even baobab. Almost any meal will invariably end with a tasting (often free of charge) of one of these varieties. Ginger rum is a favorite, but of course Madagascar vanilla rum is a must.
Also made from sugar cane, besabetsa is a popular drink on the northeast coast and in Sainte-Marie, and generally all over the island. It differs from rum by the addition of certain barks (belahy, katrafay, havozo) or wild fruits (angivy). With little fermentation, it does not exceed 4 or 5 degrees. Distilled, it's a rum that's even more of a head turner. It is still widely used in certain traditional ritual celebrations to honor the dead. As for trembo, it's a palm wine that's drunk on the coast: the sap of young coconut fruits is collected and left to ferment. The ambient heat rapidly increases the alcohol content.
