Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Despite the fact that coffee is grown in Madagascar, only the most upmarket establish-
ments offer espresso or good filter coffee. Elsewhere, you'll have to content yourself with
weak black coffee and learn to love condensed milk. Tea is better; TAF-brand teabags are
excellent, and the vanilla-flavoured black tea is highly recommended.
Soft drinks (Coke, Pepsi, Fanta) are sold at every bar under the Malagasy sun; Madagas-
car also produces its own sodas, including the synthetic-tasting Bonbon Anglais ('English
sweet'), a lemonade.
Far and away the best sweet drinks, however, are the
jus naturels
(freshly squeezed
fruit juices). Local wonders include
corossol
(soursop),
grenadelle
(passionfruit), papaya,
mangoandwhateverisinseason.Incoastalareas,streetvendorssellgreencoconuts,which
they will split open so that you can drink the vitamin-packed juice.
Boozie Delights
The most popular Malagasy beer is Three Horses Beer (universally known as THB). Up
a notch in the alcoholic stakes is the island's rum. Most bars and restaurants offer
rhum
arrangé
- rum in which a variety of fruits and spices have been left to soak. Common fla-
voursinclude lemon, ginger,cinnamon, lychee andvanilla, andthese alcoholic concoctions
generally line the back of the bar in an array of demijohns worthy of an apothecary.
Rhum
arrangé
is drunk neat as an aperitif or an after-dinner liqueur.
When you order a beer, you'll generally be asked 'PM ou GM?' Moder-
ately thirsty travellers will opt for PM or Petit Modèle (Small Model,
33cl); parched visitors shall quench their thirst with a GM or Grand
Modèle (Big Model, 66cl).
Although illegal, moonshine (generally known as
toaka gasy
) is widely available; its al-
cohol content will blow your socks off so go easy on the shots. In eastern Madagascar,
the local tipple of choice is
betsa-betsa
(fermented sugar-cane juice), while in the north,
trembo
(palm wine) is popular.
Madagascar's small wine industry is centred on Fianarantsoa. You'll probably want to
try a glass out of curiosity, but it's definitely not the island's forte. Imported French and
South African wine is served in better restaurants throughout the country.
Celebrations & Customs
THE MIGHTY ZEBU
Zebu cattle not only provide status and transport, they are also well known for
their excellent meat. Zebu beef is prepared in much the same way as European
