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The cuisine of Madagascar, reflects the influences of successive waves of Southeast Asian, African, Indian, Chinese and European migrants that have settled on the island since its initial population by seafarers from Borneo between the first and fifth centuries CE. Rice, the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet, was cultivated alongside tubers and other Southeast Asian staples by these earliest settlers. Their diet was supplemented by scavenging and hunting wild game, contributing to the extinction of the island's megafauna. These food sources were later complemented by the introduction of beef in the form of zebu by East African migrants around 1,000 CE. Trade with Arab and Indian merchants and European trans-Atlantic traders further enriched the island's culinary traditions by introducing a wealth of new fruits, vegetables and seasonings that combined to produce the cuisine of Madagascar.

Throughout nearly the entire island, the contemporary cuisine of Madagascar consists of a base of rice (vary, pronounced ) with some form of accompaniment (laoka ). Laoka may be vegetarian or include animal proteins typically cooked in a sauce often flavored with ginger, onion, garlic, vanilla, curry powder or occasionally other spices. In parts of the arid south, pastoral families may replace rice with maize, cassava and curds made from fermented zebu milk. A wide variety of sweet and savory fritters and other street foods are available across the island, as are diverse tropical and temperate-climate fruits. Locally-produced beverages include fruit juices, coffee, herbal and black teas and alcoholic drinks such as rum, wine and beer.

Meals eaten in Madagascar in the 21st century range from the simple preparations of the earliest settlers and the refined dishes prepared for the island's 19th-century monarchs to more recent favorites introduced over the past hundred years by French colonists as well as Chinese and Indian immigrants to Malagasy shores, reflecting the historic and contemporary diversity of this Indian Ocean island nation.

History
Patterns of food consumption on Madagascar have shifted over time as a result of successive waves of migrants to the island. The types of foods as well as preparation techniques reflect these diverse influences.

Prior to 1650
Austronesian seafarers are believed to have been the first humans to settle on the island between 100 and 500 CE. In their outrigger canoes they carried food staples from home including rice, plantains, taro, and water yam. Sugarcane, ginger, sweet potatoes, pigs and chickens were also probably brought to Madagascar by these first settlers, along with coconut and banana. The first concentrated population of human settlers emerged along the southeastern coast of the island, although the first landfall may have been made on the northern coast. Upon arrival, early settlers practiced tavy (swidden, "slash-and-burn" agriculture) to clear the virgin coastal rainforests for the cultivation of their crops. They also gathered honey, fruits, bird and crocodile eggs, mushrooms, edible seeds and roots, and brewed alcoholic beverages from honey and sugar cane juice.

Game was regularly hunted and trapped in the forests, including frogs, snakes, lizards, hedgehogs and tenrecs, tortoises, wild boars, insects, larvae, birds and lemurs. The first settlers encountered Madagascar's wealth of megafauna, including giant lemurs, elephant birds, giant fossa and the Malagasy hippopotamus. Early Malagasy communities ate the meat and eggs of Aepyornis maximus, the world's largest bird, widespread throughout Madagascar as recently as the 17th century. While several theories have been proposed to explain the decline and eventual extinction of Malagasy megafauna, clear evidence exists that hunting by humans and destruction of habitat through slash-and-burn agricultural practices were key factors in these animals' decline. Although it has been unlawful to hunt or trade any of the remaining species of lemur since 1964, these endangered creatures continue to be hunted on a small scale.

As more virgin forest was lost to tavy, communities increasingly planted and cultivated permanent plots of land. By 600 CE groups of these early settlers had moved inland and began clearing the forests of the central Highlands. Rice was originally dry planted or cultivated in marshy lowland areas, producing low yields. Irrigated rice paddies were adopted in the Highlands around 1600, first in Betsileo country in the southern Highlands, then later in the northern Highlands of Imerina. By the time that terraced paddies emerged in central Madagascar over the next century, the original forest cover there had largely vanished, having given way to scattered villages ringed with rice paddies nearby and planted crop fields a day's walk away, surrounded by the vast plains of sterile grasses beyond.

Zebu, a form of humped cattle, was introduced to the island around 1000 CE by settlers from eastern Africa, along with sorghum, goats, possibly Bambara groundnut, and other food sources. Because these cattle represented a form of wealth in east African and consequently Malagasy culture, they were only rarely eaten, typically after their ritual sacrifice at events of spiritual import such as funerals. Instead, fresh zebu milk and curds constituted a major part of the pastoralists' diet. Zebu were kept in large herds in the south and west, but as individual herd members escaped and reproduced, a sizable population of wild zebu established itself in the Highlands. Merina oral history tells that Highland people were unaware that zebu were edible prior to the reign of King Ralambo (ruled 1575–1612), who is credited with the discovery, although archaeological evidence suggests that zebu were occasionally hunted and consumed in the Highlands prior to Ralambo's time. It is more likely that these wild herds were first domesticated and kept in pens during this period, which corresponds with the emergence of complex, structured polities in the Highlands. Foods were commonly prepared by boiling in water (first using green bamboo as a vessel, and later clay or iron pots), roasting over a fire or grilling over hot stones or coals. Fermentation was also used to create curds from milk, develop the flavor of certain dried or fresh tubers or produce alcoholic beverages from honey, sugar cane juice or other local plants. The techniques of sun curing (drying), smoking and salting were used to preserve various foods for transport, trade or future consumption. Many foods prepared in these ways, such as kitoza (smoked dried beef) and salted dried fish, are still eaten in a similar form in modern-day Madagascar.

By the 16th century, centralized kingdoms had emerged on the west coast among the Sakalava and in the central highlands among the Merina. The Merina sovereigns celebrated the new year with an ancient Merina ceremony called the Royal Bath (fandroana). For this ceremony, a special dish called jaka (a form of beef confit) was prepared by placing beef in a decorative clay jar and sealing it with suet, then conserving it in an underground pit for a year. The jaka would be shared with friends at the following year's festival. As a dessert, revelers would eat rice boiled in milk and drizzled with honey, a preparation known as tatao. According to oral history, King Ralambo was the originator of these culinary traditions in Imerina. Ralambo's father, King Andriamanelo, is credited with introducing the marriage tradition of the vody-ondry ("rump of the sheep") wherein the most favored cut of meat – the hindquarters – was offered by the groom to the parents of the bride-to-be at an engagement ceremony. In contemporary Malagasy society the terminology persists but families are more likely to offer symbolic coins in place of an offering of food.

1650–1800
The launch of the trans-Atlantic slave trade produced increased maritime trade at ports of call in Madagascar, leading to exchange of food products into and out of Madagascar. In 1698, a trading vessel en route to the American colonies stopped first at Madagascar, where it obtained a stock of local Malagasy rice. The ship brought the rice to Charleston (South Carolina), where this Malagasy grain – one of 11 varieties of rice reportedly grown on the island by the late 18th century – soon became the chief export crop of the American South. Numerous food items were likewise imported into Madagascar from overseas. Trading ships brought new world crops such as sweet potato, tomato, maize, peanuts, tobacco and Lima beans to Madagascar in the 16th and 17th centuries. Cassava was brought after 1735 from a French colony at nearby Reunion Island. These products were first cultivated in coastal areas nearest to their ports of arrival but soon spread throughout the island and were grown in the central Highlands within 100 years of their introduction along the coast. Similarly, citrus fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and pineapple consumed by sailors to ward off scurvy on long cross-Atlantic trips were introduced at coastal Malagasy ports and soon afterward cultivated on Malagasy soil.

The prickly pear cactus (raketa), also known in southern Madagascar as sakafon-drano ("water food"), was brought from the New World to the French settlement at Fort Dauphin in 1769 by a Frenchman named Count Dolisie de Maudave. The plant spread throughout the southern part of the island, where it became a fundamental food crop for Mahafaly and Bara pastoralists. Consuming six or so of the fruits of this plant preempted the need to drink water, and once the spines had been removed, the cladodes of the plant would nourish and hydrate the zebu cattle they tended. The introduction of this plant enabled the southern pastoralists to become more sedentary and efficient herders, boosting population density and cattle count in the region.

Early 19th century voyagers reported eating dishes on Île Sainte-Marie prepared with curry powder (including a spiced rice resembling biryani) and drinking coffee and tea. The presence of these foods at the turn of the 19th century suggests they may have emerged during this period or earlier.

1800–1896
The 18th century in the central Highlands was characterized by increasing population density and consequent famines aggravated by warring among the principalities of Imerina. King Andrianampoinimerina successfully united these fractious groups under his rule, then used slaves and forced labor (exacted in lieu of taxes for those without means to offer material payment) to systematically work the irrigated rice fields around Antananarivo. In this way, he ensured regular grain surpluses enough to consistently feed the entire population and export products for trade with other regions of the island. Smoked and dried seafood and meats, fruits, dried maize and cassava, salt and other products were exchanged between regions at designated marketplaces. "Rice cakes" (mofogasy, menakely) were also sold by market vendors. Andrianampoinimerina's son, Radama I, succeeded in uniting nearly the entire island under his rule and established the Kingdom of Madagascar that saw a line of Merina monarchs govern the island until its colonization by the French in 1896.

During the imperial era, numerous plantations were established for the production of export crops sold to partners in England, France and elsewhere. Cloves were imported and planted in 1803 and coconuts – which had been relatively sparse on the island – were cultivated on plantations for the production of oil. Similarly, coffee had been grown on family plots of four to five trees until the early 19th century when more intensive cultivation for export began. Vanilla, later to become one of Madagascar's premiere export crops, was introduced by French entrepreneurs in 1840 and planted in eastern coastal rainforests. The technique of hand pollination critical to higher vanilla yields was introduced some 30 years later, but vanilla remained a marginal crop through the end of the imperial era.

During Merina royal festivals, the hanim-pito loha were eaten. These were seven dishes said to be the most desirable in the realm. They included voanjobory (Bambara groundnut), amalona (eel), vorivorinkena (beef tripe), ravitoto (grated cassava leaves) and vorontsiloza (turkey), each cooked with pork and usually ginger, garlic, onion and tomato; romazava (a stew of beef and greens) and varanga (shredded roast beef) completed the list. Colonization of Madagascar by the French beginning in 1896 meant the end of the Malagasy monarchy and its elaborate feasts, but the traditions of this elegant cuisine were preserved in the home, where these dishes are eaten regularly. They are also served in many restaurants throughout the island.

1896–present
French colonization introduced a number of innovations to local cuisines and certain new food names derived from the French language – then the dominant language of the state – became widespread. Baguettes were popularized among cosmopolitan urbanites, as were a variety of French pastries and desserts such as cream horns, mille-feuille, croissants and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). The French established plantations for the cultivation of a variety of cash crops, including not only those already exploited in the 19th century, but new foreign fruits, vegetables and livestock, to varying levels of success. Tea, coffee, vanilla, coconut oil and spices became successful exports. Coconut became a regular ingredient in coastal cuisine, and vanilla began to be used in sauces for poultry and seafood dishes. Although a handful of Chinese settlers had arrived in Madagascar near the end of the reign of Queen Ranavalona III, the first major influx of Chinese migrants followed an announcement by General Joseph Gallieni, first governor general of the colony of Madagascar, requesting 3,000 Chinese laborers to construct a northern rail line between Antananarivo and Toamasina. Chinese migrants introduced a number of dishes that have become part of urban popular cuisine in regions with large Chinese communities, including soupe chinoise (Chinese noodle soup), misao (fried noodles), pao (hum bao) and especially nems (fried egg rolls).

While French innovations enriched the cuisine in many ways, not every innovation was favorable. Since the French introduction of prickly pear cactus (raketa) in the 18th century, the lifestyle of southern pastoralists became increasingly reliant on the plant to ensure feed and water for their zebu as well as fruit and water for themselves during the dry season from July to December. However, in 1925, a French colonist wishing to eradicate the raketa on his property in the southwestern town of Toliara introduced the cochineal, an insect known to be a parasite of the raketa. Within five years, nearly all the raketa of southern Madagascar had been completely wiped out, sparking a massive famine from 1930–1931. Although these ethnic groups have since adapted in various ways, the famine period is commonly remembered as the time when their traditional lifestyle was ended by the arrival of foreigners on their land.

Contemporary cuisine
Since Madagascar gained sovereignty from French colonial rule in 1960, Malagasy cuisine has reflected the island's diverse cultures and historic influences. Throughout the country, rice is considered the preeminent food and constitutes the main staple of the Malagasy diet in all but the most arid regions of the south and west.

Rice (vary)
Rice (vary) is the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet and is typically consumed at every meal. The verb "to eat" in the Malagasy language is mihinam-bary – literally, to eat rice. Rice may be prepared with varying amounts of water to produce a fluffy rice (vary maina, ) eaten with a laoka in sauce, or a soupy rice porridge called vary sosoa ). Vary sosoa is typically eaten for breakfast or prepared for the sick, and may be accompanied with a dry laoka such as kitoza, smoked strips of zebu meat. A popular variation, vary amin'anana is a traditional porridge made with rice, meat and chopped greens.

A beverage called ranon'ampango or ranovola, is made by adding boiling water to the toasted rice left sticking to the interior of its cooking pot. This drink is typically served at lunch and dinner as a sanitary and tasty alternative to fresh water.

Accompaniment (laoka)
The accompaniment served with rice is called laoka in the Highlands dialect, the official version of the Malagasy language. Laoka are most often served in some kind of sauce: in the Highlands, this sauce is generally tomato-based, while in coastal areas coconut milk is often added during cooking. In the arid southern and western interior where herding zebu is traditional, fresh or curdled zebu milk is often incorporated into vegetable dishes. Laoka are diverse and may include such ingredients as Bambara peas (voanjobory ) with pork, beef or fish; various types of freshwater fish (trondro gasy, ); shredded cassava leaves (ravitoto ) with peanuts, voanjobory, beef or pork; beef (henan'omby ) or chicken (akoho ) sauteed with ginger and garlic or simmered in its own juices (a preparation called ritra ); various types of seafood, which are more readily available along the coasts or in large urban centers; and many more. A variety of local greens such as anamamy (Morelle greens), anamafaitra (Martin greens) and particularly anamalao (paracress) - distinguished by the mildly analgesic effect the boiled leaves and flowers produce - are commonly sold alongside anandrano (watercress) and anatsonga (bok choi). In the arid south and west, such as among the Bara or Tandroy peoples, staples include sweet potato, yams, taro root and especially cassava, millet and maize, generally boiled in water and occasionally served in whole milk or flavored with crushed peanuts.

Garlic, onions, ginger, tomatoes, mild curry, and salt are the most common ingredients used to flavor dishes, and in coastal areas other ingredients such as coconut milk, vanilla, cloves or turmeric may also be used. A variety of condiments are served on the side and mixed into the rice or laoka according to each individual's taste rather than mixing them in as the food is being cooked. The most common and basic condiment, sakay, is a spicy condiment made from red or green chili pepper. Indian-style condiments made of pickled mango, lemon, and other fruits (known as achards, ), are coastal specialty; other variations on the achard are found throughout Southeast Asia where they are known by variant names such as acar or achar. An achard-like salad of green beans, cabbage, carrots and onion in a vinaigrette sauce (called lasary in Malagasy) is also popular as a side dish – or as the filling of a baguette sandwich – in the Highlands.

A broth (ro) may be served as the main laoka or, more commonly, in addition to it, to flavor and moisten the rice. Ro-mangazafy is a rich and flavorful broth flavored primarily with beef, tomato and garlic, and often accompanies a dry laoka. By contrast, Romatsatso is a light and relatively flavorless broth made from onion, tomato and anamamy greens served with meat or fatty poultry laoka. A broth made with chicken and ginger (ron-akoho) is a home remedy for the common cold, while rompatsa - a broth made with tiny dried shrimp and beef, to which potato leaves and potato are often added - is traditionally eaten by new mothers to support lactation. The national dish is romazava, which in its simplest form is made of beef, anamalao and anantsonga or anamamy, although ingredients such as tomato, onion and ginger are commonly added to create more complex and flavorful versions of the broth. Romazava is distinguished by its inclusion of the anamalao flowers, which produce a mild analgesic effect experienced when the broth is consumed.

Street foods
A variety of cakes and fritters (collectively known as mofo, meaning "bread") are available from kiosks in towns and cities across Madagascar. The most common is "Malagasy bread" (mofo gasy ), made from a batter of sweetened rice flour that is poured into greased circular molds and cooked over charcoals. Mofo gasy is a popular breakfast food and is often eaten with coffee, also sold at kiosks; in coastal areas this mofo is made with coconut milk and is known by the name mokary ). Other sweet mofo include a deep-fried ring doughnut called menakely and a doughnut hole called mofo baolina, as well as a variety of fruit fritters, with pineapple and bananas among the most common fruits used. Savory mofo include a mofo gasy salted and fried in lard (ramanonaka, ), and a fritter flavored with chopped greens, onions, tomatoes and chilies called mofo sakay ("spicy bread").

Koba akondro is a sweet made by wrapping a batter of ground peanuts, mashed bananas, honey and corn flour in banana leaves and steaming or boiling the small cakes until the batter has set. Peanut brittle, dried bananas, balls of tamarind paste rolled in colored sugar, bonbon coco (coconut balls), a snack of deep-fried wonton-type dough called kaka pizon ("pigeon droppings," also eaten in Reunion Island) and home-made yogurts are all commonly sold on the street. In rural areas, steamed cassava or sweet potatoes are eaten, occasionally with milk.

Desserts
Traditionally, fresh fruit may be eaten after a meal as a dessert. Fresh sugarcane may also be chewed as a treat. A great variety of temperate and tropical fruits are grown locally and may be enjoyed fresh or sprinkled with sugar. Temperate fruits found in Madagascar include but are not limited to apples, lemons, pumpkins, watermelon, oranges, cherries and strawberries. Among the many tropical fruits commonly eaten in Madagascar are coconut, tamarind, mango, pineapple, avocado, passion fruit, loquats (bibasy) and guava, as well as longans, lychees, "pok-pok" (voanantsindrana, similar to a physalis), persimmon, and the fruit of the baobab tree, which is only available during a brief period near the end of the rainy season (typically March).

Madagascar is known for its high-quality cocoa and vanilla, much of which are exported. In the coastal areas of Madagascar or in upscale inland restaurants, vanilla may be used to prepare savory sauces for poultry.

Koban-dravina, or koba , is a Malagasy specialty made by grinding together peanuts and brown sugar, then enveloping the mixture in a sweetened rice flour paste to produce a cylindrical bundle. The bundle is wrapped in banana leaves and boiled for 24 to 48 hours or longer until the sugar caramelizes and the peanuts have softened. The resulting cake is served in thin slices. Bonbon coco is a popular candy made from shredded coconut cooked with caramelized sugar and formed into chewy balls or patties. A firm, cake-like coconut milk pudding known as godro-godro is a popular dessert also found in Comoros. French pastries and cakes are very popular across the island and may be purchased at the many patisseries found in towns and cities throughout Madagascar.

Beverages
Ranon'ampango and ranovola are the most common and traditional beverages in Madagascar. In addition, a variety of other drinks are produced locally. Coffee is grown in the eastern part of the island and has become a standard breakfast drink, served black or with sweetened condensed milk at street-side kiosks. Black tea, occasionally flavored with vanilla, and herbal teas – particularly lemongrass and lemon bush (ravin'oliva – are popular. Juices are made from guava, passion fruit, pineapple, tamarind, baobab and other fruit. In some urban areas, a hot beverage is made from powdered sweetened soybeans and consumed at breakfast. Fresh milk, however, is a luxury, and locally produced yogurts, ice creams or sweetened condensed milk mixed with hot water are the most common dairy sources of calcium. Cola and orange soft drinks are popular, as is bonbon anglais, a local sweet lemon soda.

A variety of alcoholic beverages are also produced for local consumption and limited export. The local pilsner, Three Horses Beer, is popular and ubiquitous. Wine is produced in the southern Highlands around Fianarantsoa, and rum (toaka gasy ) is widely produced and can be either drunk neat, flavored with exotic fruits and spices to produce rhum arrangé, or blended with coconut milk to make a punch coco cocktail. The most traditional form of rum, called betsabetsa, is made from fermented sugarcane juice. Rum serves a ritual purpose in many parts of Madagascar, where it is traditional to throw the first capful of a newly opened bottle of rum into the northeast corner of the room as an offering and gesture of respect to the ancestors. At social gatherings it is common for alcoholic beverages to be accompanied with savory, fried snacks known collectively as tsakitsaky, commonly including nems (fried egg rolls), sambos (samosas) and kaka pizon.

Imports
Several foreign dishes have been widely popularized in Madagascar and are commonly prepared at home and in restaurants. Chinese immigrants introduced such favorites as riz cantonais (Chinese fried rice), soupe chinoise (Chinese-style noodle soup), fried noodles (mi-sao) and egg rolls (nems). Indian influence is most evident along the northwest coast, where curries and biryanis are popular. Khimo (based on the Indian khiman) is a specialty of the northwestern port town of Mahajanga, where Indian traders have historically had a strong presence. Indian samosas (sambos) are a popular street food in most parts of Madagascar, where they may also be known by the name tsaky telozoro ("three-cornered snack"). Bol renversé, a type of fried rice from neighboring Mauritius, is available in many mid-range restaurants. In addition to popularizing baguettes, pastries and numerous other foods, the French can also be credited with introducing foie gras and popularizing a dish sold in Highland hotelys (simple roadside restaurants) as composé: a cold macaroni salad mixed with blanched vegetables based on the French macédoine de légumes.