Kitoza (smoked-dried zebu strips)
Long strips of lean zebu, salted, then dried and smoked over the hearth, grilled before serving. Concentrated, salty, and smoky flavor, accompanying the morning rice (vary sosoa).
Long strips of lean zebu, salted, then dried and smoked over the hearth, grilled before serving. Concentrated, salty, and smoky flavor, accompanying the morning rice (vary sosoa).
Meat does not last under our sun, so we learned to keep it. The zebu is cut into long strips, salted, hung above the hearth where the smoke caresses them day after day until they harden. In the morning, a piece is grilled to accompany the tender rice: that is the breakfast of the cold highlands. Nothing is wasted from the zebu, that sacred animal that is our wealth.
- •Lean zebu meat — a nice cut (base)
- •Salt — generously (preservation)
- •Hearth smoke — several days (drying and aroma)
Kitoza (smoked-dried zebu strips)
Long strips of lean zebu, salted, then dried and smoked over the hearth, grilled before serving. Concentrated, salty, and smoky flavor, accompanying the morning rice (vary sosoa).
Why this dish? Kitoza — thin strips of zebu salted, dried, and smoked over the hearth — is the Merina way of preserving meat in a country without cold. On the highlands where Ranavalona III reigned, it was the meat reserve that lasted through the seasons, grilled in the morning with rice.
Meat does not last under our sun, so we learned to keep it. The zebu is cut into long strips, salted, hung above the hearth where the smoke caresses them day after day until they harden. In the morning, a piece is grilled to accompany the tender rice: that is the breakfast of the cold highlands. Nothing is wasted from the zebu, that sacred animal that is our wealth.
Ingredients (period version)
- Lean zebu meat — a nice cut (base)
- Salt — generously (preservation)
- Hearth smoke — several days (drying and aroma)
Ingredients
- Lean beef (sirloin, top round) — 500 g (base)
- Coarse salt — 3 tbsp (salting)
- Grated ginger (optional) — 10 g (aromatic)
- Oil (for grilling) — 1 tbsp (final cooking)
Method
- Cut the beef into long thin strips (1 cm thick), along the grain.
- Rub generously with coarse salt (and ginger) and let rest for 2 h in the refrigerator.
- Dry in an oven with the door ajar at very low temperature (60–70°C) for 4–6 h, or in a dehydrator, until the strips are firm but pliable.
- Store in a dry place; when ready to serve, quickly grill the strips in a hot pan.
- Serve with soft morning rice (very cooked, porridge-like).
How it was made : Without refrigeration, zebu meat was salted and smoked on racks above the domestic hearth. Kitoza thus preserved could keep for weeks and was grilled on demand, traditionally served in the early morning with vary sosoa, rice in broth.
The contemporary twist : Shaved into fine slivers over creamy rice with a soft-boiled egg, kitoza becomes a morning bowl in the style of a highland brunch.
Ranavalona III · Charactorium