Mariette Andrianjaka Bleu Cuisine: A Madagascar Food Story PART 2
When Madame embarked on her quest, Madagascar was at the tail end of 60 years of French Colonial rule. French cooking had practically wiped out the traditional Malagasy table. 'We knew about our cuisine', she recalls, 'but no-one was serving it. So you see, I was the first'. And much as a shuffle of restaurants have subsequently followed suit, none has achieved quite the same level of intimacy, detail or sophistication.Here, the lines between food, culinary science and visual art blur with the likes of Zebu beef steaks, picked into painfully fine strands, then deep-fried in their own grease. The fresh carp has been rolled into brochettes and prepared with its own neon orange caviar. Even the zanadandy, or silkworm pupae, are beyond reproach. 'You should try one', Madame quips mischievously. 'They're an aphrodisiac'.We eat and eat and eat. A goose arrives - it has been cooked overnight -...
