Malagasy Morsels

We return to Africa to learn about the food of their biggest island, Madagascar. The cuisine of this area is known as the Malagasy diet. The are was first settled in the early first millennia by Austronesian seafarers who came over in canoes and brought with them what they could from home. This included rice, plantains, taro, and water yam among other foods like common fruits from home like bananas. The slash and burned new rainforest upon arrival in order to make room for farmland.

Trapping and hunting game was very prominent and often included some peculiar animals such as  lizards, hedgehogs, tenrecs, tortoises, wild boars, insects, larvae, and lemurs. And some birds. Big Birds. Early Madagascans would occasionally eat the eggs and flesh of the Aepyornis maximus, a giant bird native to Madagascar. The monstrosities weighed from 730–1,200 lbs, towered 3 meters in the air, and had eggs with up to a meter in circumference. Unfortunately, it is very likely that human actions, such as clear cutting rainforest and overhunting, brought these giant rat-like birds to extinction.

In about the 11th century, cattle were introduced to the island. Because they were so valuable, they were rarely eaten, but their milk was. Some escaped to the highlands and it is legend that the highlanders did not realize they were edible for over five hundred years. In the 17th century, a vessel took some rice from Madagascar to the Americas which helped form the bases of the plantation industry. An interesting food is the prickly pear cactus, which was brought from the new world to a French settlement on the island. If you consume six or more of the fruits you become dehydrated, but cladodes of the plant could hydrate cattle. In the 18th century, population boomed, but so did famines. King Andrianampoinimerina united the nation and with slaves and forced labor created a systematic rice industry that produced ample surpluses every year.

After French rule and independence, we can finally cover modern Madagascaran cuisine.  Rice is still a staple and is typically served at every meal. The rice is accompanied with something when served and this is known as laoka. There is a great variety in one what this can be made of, including  Bambara groundnuts with pork, beef or fish, shredded cassava leaves with peanuts, beef or pork, and various types of seafood.

Street food is also very popular in Madagascar. A range of bread products served are known as mofo. The most popular is mofo gasy, which is sweetened rice flour poured into greased circular molds and cooked over charcoal.

To wash it down, the people of Madagascar will drink a beverage made from adding hot water to the burnt rice that is left stuck to the pot after cooking. After a meal, fresh sugarcane is often chewed on as a desert. Koban-dravina is another desert that is made from grinding together peanuts and brown sugar, then enveloping the mixture in a sweet rice flour paste to produce a cylindrical product.