International Cuisine

Exploring the world through food.

Malagasy Mofo Sakay (Spicy Bread)

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Malagasy mofo sakay literally translated mean spicy bread.  These little fritters are found as a street food and a much loved treat.  They can be made with all sorts of items mixed in with the batter to create any number of types of mofo. If you just used greens it would be called mofo anana which means leafy green bread.  You get the idea, they can be made sweet, savory or spicy.  As we had an abundance of spicy peppers and tomatoes in our International cuisine garden we went the spicy route.  They turned out with the colors of the Madagascar flag.  However you make them you will love them.  Little fried bundles of joy!

Malagasy mofo sakay

Malagasy Mofo Sakay (Spicy Bread)
 
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Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Malagasy
Serves: 24
Ingredients
  • 2¼ cups of flour
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1½ cups water +/-
  • ½ cup watercress, chopped
  • 3 red or green chilies, finely chopped
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • oil for frying
Instructions
  1. In a bowl combine all the ingredients except the oil
  2. Mix to form a smooth paste, add water slowly as you may not need the entire 1½ cups
  3. Pour the oil into a skillet or deep fryer
  4. Drop the batter about a tablespoon at a time into the hot oil and fry the fritters turning frequently until golden brown.
  5. Remove the fritters and place on a paper towel to remove excess oil
  6. Serve hot.
  7. You can serve along side the condiment sakay for an extra spicy dipping sauce
  8. Enjoy

 

 

Malagasy Lasary Avocat (Avocado Salad)

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Malagasy Lasary Avocat is a very simple avocado salad.  It utilizes the avocado as a vessel for the delicious simple salad which makes for a lovely presentation.  The avocado is called zavoka in Malagsy, avocat is the French name.  The season for them is January to April. The cost of one avocado is only about ten cents each! One of the highlights I understand about visiting Madagascar is to try all sorts of fruits that are only found there.  Some have no translation to the English language.  We enjoyed this pretty salad as part of Malagasy meal however it would be delicious for any occasion.

Malagasy lasary avocat

Malagasy Lasary Avocat (Avocado Salad)
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Cuisine: Malagasy
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 large avocados
  • 1 green onion, chopped
  • 1 tomato diced
  • For the dressing:
  • 4 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. Cut the avocado lengthwise and remove the pits, Use a big spoon to scoop out the half in one big piece.
  2. Put each avocado half on a plate and evenly distribute the chopped onions and tomato
  3. In a bowl whisk together the dressing ingredients and drizzle over each plate
  4. Serve immediately

 

Malagasy Lasopy (Pureed Vegetable Soup)

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Malagasy lasopy is a much loved pureed vegetable soup.  It is usually made with meat bones to add flavor and whatever vegetables are on hand.  Any fresh vegetables will do, here are some common choices: carrots, tomatoes, green onions, green beans, turnips, leeks, and potatoes.  Green beans and turnips seem to be in most of the recipes.  Of course you could just use a vegetable stock if you wanted to make the soup totally vegetarian, the choice is yours.  What makes it Malagasy is definitely serving it with the spicy condiment called sakay and a nice piece of  French baguette.  A simple recipe that is healthy and delicious.

Malagasy lasopy

Malagasy Lasopy (Pureed Vegetable Soup)
 
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Recipe type: soup
Cuisine: Madagascar
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ½ lb.. of beef or pork bones
  • 2 roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1 turnip, peeled and diced
  • 2 green onions or leeks, chopped
  • 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
  • 1½ cups of green beans, cut into pieces
  • 1½ quarts water
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Place the water in a large stock pot and add in all the ingredients
  2. Bring everything to a boil and then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer
  3. Once the vegetables are soft, remove the bones.
  4. Use an immersion blender to puree or carefully pour the vegetables and liquid into a blender doing it in batches if necessary.
  5. Serve with sakay and a French Baguette, serve warm

 

Malagasy Sakay (Spicy Condiment)

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Malagasy Sakay is a spicy condiment that is found on every table in Madagascar.  They do not cook with much heat in their cuisine yet it is an important element. Sakay means spicy in Malagasy.  You will find that the food literally comes alive with a little spoonful of sakay.  you can add as little or as much as you wish according to your heat tolerance.  We loved this little spicy condiment, you will too!  Aside from the chilies, ginger and garlic adds a delicious flavor to the sauce.  Enjoy!

Malagasy sakay

Malagasy Sakay (Spicy Condiment)
 
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Recipe type: Sauce
Cuisine: Malagasy
Serves: ¼ cup
Ingredients
  • 5-10 Thai bird chilies, whole
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled
  • 1" piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
  • about ½ cup olive oil or just enough to make the paste
  • salt to taste.
Instructions
  1. Put the chilies, garlic and ginger into a blender or food processor along with a bit of the olive oil. Blend until smooth adding oil as needed to get the desired consistency. Add salt to taste. If you want to make it authentically you should grind the chilies, garlic and ginger with a mortar and pestle. Put a dab or a spoonful on everything. Enjoy!

 

Malagasy Romazava (Meat Stew with Greens)

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Malagasy Romazava is the national dish of Madagascar.  It is a meat stew filled with a combination of green leafy vegetables.  It is served over rice which is a staple at every meal.   When invited to eat in Madagascar they say “Manasa Hihinam-bary!” which literally means “let’s eat rice.”  The dishes that are served with rice are considered to be the side dishes and called laoka.  This dish is hearty made with beef, chicken and pork.  In Madagascar the beef would be zebu.  In trying to make this dish authentic it was a bit of a challenge.  The greens used in this dish are mustard greenswhich was not a problem. A green called anamamy  is very similar to spinach so a reasonably easy substitute. However I could not find paracress.  This is sometimes called the toothache plant because of its numbing affect like a local anesthetic.  It has a peppery taste so we used arugula as the substitute but felt certain we didn’t get the full enjoyment of the dish without the paracress.  It was a delightful stew nonetheless and the condiment sakay is what makes the dish come alive.  Enjoy!

Malagasy romazava

Malagasy Romazava (Meat Stew with Greens)
 
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Recipe type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Malagasy
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 1lb.beef chuck cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 pork loin chop, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups chicken or beef stock
  • ½ large yellow onion, diced
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 2½ " of ginger, peeled and minced
  • 3 serrano chilies, minced
  • 1 bunch mustard greens, chopped
  • 1 combination bag or baby spinach and arugula or a bunch or each
  • salt and pepper to taste.
Instructions
  1. In a large dutch oven heat the oil and brown the beef on all sides.
  2. Add the tomatoes, stock, onion, chilies, garlic and ginger and bring to a simmer.
  3. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low and let stew for about 30 minutes
  4. Add in the pork and the chicken pieces and bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and cover for another 10-15 minutes.
  5. Add in the greens, it will seem like too much greens but they wilt down quickly.
  6. cover and stew for another 10 minutes
  7. Add salt and pepper to taste
  8. Serve over steamed white rice and be sure to have some sakay on hand as that is what makes the dish delicious!

 

Malagasy Fruity Clafouti (Cherry Custard)

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Malagasy fruity clafouti is certainly a dessert influenced by the French.  They colonized Madagascar so French pastries and desserts are a loved remnant from that time. This custard dessert is also enhanced with the most prominent export product from Madagascar their famous  vanilla beans.  I was so excited to find Madagascar vanilla beans at my local supermarket but then nearly fell over at the price, almost $14 for two beans.  Hopefully some of that money is getting back to the very impoverished Malagasy people.  Sometimes this dessert is served cooked well-done which is almost cake-like or sometimes it is served almost like a pudding.  This dessert is easy to make and can be made with just about any type of fruit.  We enjoyed it with cherries and raspberries.

Malagasy fruity clafouti

Malagasy Fruity Clafouti (Cherry Custard)
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Malagasy
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 Tablespoon Rum
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Vanilla bean split and scraped
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 lb. sweet cherries, pitted (frozen or canned can be used just be sure to remove any excess moisture or juice.)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Butter 6 custard cups
  3. Beat the eggs and sugar until frothy
  4. Add the milk, rum and vanilla extract and seeds, beat until smooth
  5. Stir in the flour and salt
  6. Pour the batter over the cherries and place the cups on a baking sheet
  7. Bake fo 10 minutes then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the top has puffed and a toothpick comes out clean about 35 minutes. (note they will sink during cooling)
  8. Let cool on rack for about 20 minutes
  9. Enjoy!