Let's Make Feta!

On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons I have time off. My host sister Nomena is usually free these afternoons as well, so we often cook. We always start with a quick run to the market to get the ingredients we need and then to my house to cook. Nomena and I both like to cook, and I especially love to learn Malagasy recipes. A few weeks ago, we spent Tuesday afternoon making feta, which is the Malagasy version of banana bread. Here are some pictures of our adventure and the recipe, it’s delicious!

First, the recipe is very simple.

½ kilo rice flour (which you can find in the states in Asian grocery stores or sometimes in the “Ethnic food aisle” of Cub, Rainbow, etc.)

Bananas, enough to make the batter like biscuit dough when they are all mashed in, if it’s not like biscuit dough, add another banana.

About a teaspoon or so of baking powder

Sugar, add a little and taste it, it depends on how sweet your bananas are, make it so the dough is just a little sweet

Unsalted and roasted peanuts, crushed (the Malagasy use a spice type grinder for this, but you could use a food processor or blender)

Banana leaves (okay, so you can’t use banana leaves at home, I’m going to suggest using plastic sandwich bags, definitely not ideal but they will work, let me know if you have other ideas!)

 First, you mix the batter together.

Then, we had to roast and peel the peanuts.

 And, crush them. I used a mug and a cutting board to crush these because I didn't have a Malagasy grinder yet. Your blender will be much easier!

 Then, to gather banana leaves. Nomena after she cut the leaf off the tree in my yard.

 The leaf was as big as me

Then, it was time to cut the sides off the leaf to get rid of the hard part in the middle.

We also searched for and cut up sticks to put in the bottom of the pot so to make a Malagasy steamer.

 Next, we had to heat up the leaves on the fire a bit to soften them so we could wrap them around the dough without breaking them. I was terrible at this part.

 Then, we tear off sections of the leaves about 4 inches wide. You need two sections for each piece of feta.

 Next, make a cross with the leaves and put a spoonful of dough in the middle.

 Then, add a teaspoon or so of peanuts and another spoonful of dough on top.

And, fold up the leaves to the center to make a neat little square.

 Then, we stacked all the feta pieces in the pan with the wood on the bottom and water under the sticks (you can use a steamer or make a 'gasy steamer, whatever you'd like.)

 Then, when the dough is cooked it's finished (the amount of time varies, and will probably be different when you aren't using charcoal). It's delicious!

 And, it tastes really good. You should probably take silly pictures of you eating like this too.

 Nomena thinks it's great too!

  

I hope you enjoy! 

An Adventure to Ihosy

I have just returned from spending a week in Ihosy, about 4 hours south of Fianar. I went with Nomena to spend time with her family there. There was vacation for a holiday at Masomabahoaka so I did not have to work for the week that I was there. It was a relaxing week, we spent a lot of time playing games and just hanging out. It was very hot there! I was able to practice my Malagasy as well. The best way to tell you about my adventure is through pictures.

The street in Ihosy. You can see the mango trees and other plants.

A stand at the market with vegetable. Things are usually sold by the kilo so you can see the scale that they use to weigh. There are tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, and many other vegetables.

I stayed with some family of my friend Nomena's. They have a shop in town. This is the father, Donne working in the store.

The sell pasta and coffee in the store. It is very common here in Madagascar to have things like this in buckets or tubs and measure them into small bags using a can.

Flour and sugar are sold the same way. 

This is the mother, Louisette, working in the shop.

Outside the big shop, Louisette's sister sells things too.

It was almost time for mangoes to be ripe in Ihosy. These are manga manta (unripe mangoes).

But there were still many mangoes that they bring north from the very south of Madagascar.

This is me and two of Nomena's cousins by a river just outside of town.

Nomena's aunt, Nessy, sells jewelry in the town as well.

Nomena and I by the same river.

It's common to see cows and sometimes sheep being led around Malagasy towns like this.

This is the river, you can see fields, mango trees and the river.

We went to the cow market where you buy cows. It was mostly a huge field with many cows. 

We also took a walk to a nearby lake. The lake was very small because rainy season has not yet started, but there were people swimming, and many people washing laundry.

Rice fields are everywhere in Madagascar!

In Ihosy, a common way to get around town is by kinga. There are no kingas in Fianar though. 

One of the family members in Ihosy has a snake. He will eat it when it is big enough. 

The children in town were excited to see the vazaha (foreigner) holding the snake.

Many of the children were afraid of the snake.

The street again in Ihosy. It is a much smaller town than Fianar, so the street is much less busy.