One of the best parts about living in Madagascar is living seasonally. Fruits, vegetables, drinks… all have their season here.
Maybe a month ago or so, Andrew Zimmern did an episode of Bizarre Foods here in Madagascar. I have not seen this, but I have heard a bit about it from others. Choosing Madagascar as a location surprised me a bit, because aside from one particular dish (ravitoto, or mashed up cassava leaves), food in Madagascar is pretty normal for western appetites. Basic meals are rice, vegetables, beans, and/or some type of meat (pork, fish, chicken, beef). The truly amazing culinary aspect of Madagascar is that, given the right season, you can find almost any type of tantalizing fruit imaginable. Here is an incomplete list: oranges, apples, pineapples, mangos, avocados, lychees, breadfruit, jackfruit, watermelon, strawberries, passion fruit, loquats, tamarind, coconut, guava, persimmon…
But, as I said, you can only find these fruits in their particular seasons. Lychees, for instance, are not available year-round, only from November to December. When in season, a fruit can be found almost anywhere, and purchased cheaply. So, in true carpe diem practice, you gorge on the fruit that is available while you can, knowing that it will be another year before you can do so again.
Most fruits are eaten by Malagasy as a dessert, or as a midday snack. But my favorite use is as the basis for fresh fruit juice. Some examples of delicious fresh juices found in the right season: pineapple juice, coconut juice, strawberry juice, tamarind juice (well tamarind juice is a little weird)… but the best has to be passion fruit juice. Of course, the ability to make delicious fruit juices segues nicely into the ability to make delicious alcoholic drinks as well. Take, for instance, rhum arrangé, which is a flavored rum made by soaking fresh fruit in a bottle of alcohol for a few weeks/months. To maximize flavor, this can then be mixed with some of the fresh juices to make a delicious, although potent, concoction. Another delicious concoction, popular on the east coast in particular, is the coconut punch, made with rum and coconut milk. Tandremo: Mora Mamo (Caution: It makes you drunk easily)…
Right now, we are in full-on avocado season. This means I have made fresh guacamole for lunch the past few days. All of the ingredients can be found locally, and it is easy enough to make (just mash up the ingredients) that I can prepare it successfully. One interesting note about avocados, though: Malagasy people do not eat them as guacamole or as a salty snack or ingredient for cooking. Instead, they put sugar on it and eat it as dessert, which I have to admit is pretty good (although it may be an acquired taste). Indeed: To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven…
