Southern Staple · Dried Zebu
Kitoza (Dried & Smoked Zebu Strips)
Photo: SurreyJohn / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vendors sell kitoza both ready-to-eat as a snack and as a rehydratable ingredient, so the same strip of meat might be nibbled dry off a stall or dropped straight into a simmering stew.
Strips of zebu or pork, salted and either sun-dried or smoked over a slow fire, turn into a dense, chewy jerky, sold at meat stalls and market butcher counters across Madagascar, and often eaten with rice porridge for breakfast.
Why it's made this way: In Madagascar's arid south, where refrigeration is scarce and cattle are wealth on the hoof, drying and smoking meat has long been the way to preserve a zebu slaughtered for a big family occasion.
More from Madagascar
Ranon'apango (Ranovola)
Mofo Gasy
Sambos
Nem Malgache (Malagasy Spring Rolls)
Masikita (Zebu Skewers)
Romazava (Beef & Greens Stew)
Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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