Madagascar

Loin (loowahn, nasal n = far)


Our town is smallish in comparison to others, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in rich diversity.


This weekend we had the privilege of attending a traditional Malagasy lunch.  We started off with a hot drink. It looks just like tea right?? I heard someone say it was almond tea and I thought it was quite good. I could really taste the nuttiness . . . .

Except it's not tea in the traditional sense. It's a hot drink made from rice. From the rice that got stuck at the bottom of the pot. And that you boiled again in some water. Then you poured that water, still steaming, into a glass. Voilà!

Next we had a carrot, onion, ginger, green bean, cabbage salad in a curry vinaigrette.

Then two meat dishes, one chicken, one beef - both cooked to perfection in simple broths made with few spices. This was accompanied by white rice and the hottest pepper paste I've had to date. I'd bet it was made with piment oiseau, "bird pepper", which is spicier than the Cayenne and is often used in the Antilles.

It was all served with a tomato/onion/chives salad called rougail (rooj-eye) and finally, a very original dessert :

This was called a gateau à la banane, which means banana cake, but it reminded me of the pasteles from Puerto Rico. Both are made by grating starchy vegetables (or fruit in this case) into a paste and steaming them in the banana leaves. This dessert had the slightly rubbery texture of turkish delight, but was softly starchy to the taste with a hint of green tea, brought on by the banana leaves. It was tasty, albeit filling.


This is the typical meal in Madagascar, our hosts assured us. Apart from the rice water tea, I wouldn't mind having this meal again.