Local Drinks

1. Ranovola

   Ra-no-vo-la

   Ranovola (drink made from the toasted rice crust)

   Usage

   Made by pouring hot water onto the crust left in the rice pot. Served with or after a meal. Not alcoholic

   Grammar Note

   It is water heated in the pot with the burnt rice still in it, drunk at mealtime. The same drink is also called ranon'ampango (rano + ampango, the toasted crust).

2. Dite

   Di-te

   Dite (tea)

   Usage

   Typically drunk at breakfast with fried rice cakes (mofo gasy). Usually served heavily sweetened

   Grammar Note

   It is a drink of leaves boiled in water, comparable in effect to coffee. It is borrowed from French "du thé" and is also used for infusions of other plants.

3. Kafe

   Ka-fe

   Kafe (coffee)

   Usage

   Madagascar grows coffee itself. Street stalls serve it strong in a small glass

   Grammar Note

   It is a tree of about three metres whose berries are made into a drink, so the word covers both the plant and the beverage. It is a French loan.

4. Ranom-boanio

   Ra-nom-boa-nio

   Ranom-boanio (coconut milk)

   Usage

   Common on the coast. Drunk as it is, and also used as the base for chicken and fish stews

   Grammar Note

   It is a set phrase built from rano (water) and voanio (coconut palm and its fruit). In the compound, rano becomes ranom- and the initial v- of voanio shifts to b-.

5. Rano

   Ra-no

   Rano (water)

   Usage

   The basic word, seen alone on menus and labels. Tap water is not safe to drink, so check that it is bottled

   Grammar Note

   In compounds rano appears as ranom-, ranon- or rano- (ranom-boanio, ranon'ampango, ranovola). Spotting it is the key to reading drink names.

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