Ranavalona III at the table

The Malagasy meal of the Merina kingdom revolves around vary, rice, which is not a side dish but the absolute heart of the plate. Everything else — the laoka — revolves around it: a zebu stew, greens, sometimes a refined court dish. One finishes by drinking ranovola, the golden water drawn from the toasted rice at the bottom of the pot. At the royal table of the Rova, this simple structure was enhanced with duck, silk, and ceremony, but the backbone remained that of every Malagasy: rice, more rice, and what accompanies it.

Ginger (sakamalao) perfumes almost every Merina laoka, and greens — seasonal green leaves gathered by the armful — give rice its color and freshness. Together they define the cuisine of the highlands of Antananarivo: green, aromatic, never heavy.