the 18th century, the lifestyle of southern pastoralists became increasingly reliant on the plant to ensure food and water for their zebu as well as fruit and water for themselves during the dry season between July and December. However, in 1925, a French colonist wishing to eradicate the cactus on his property in the southwestern town of Toliara introduced the cochineal, an insect known to be a parasite of the plant. Within five years, nearly all the prickly pear cactus of southern Madagascar had been completely wiped out, sparking a massive famine from 1930–1931. Although these ethnic groups have since adapted in various ways, the famine period is commonly remembered as the time when their traditional lifestyle was ended by the arrival of foreigners on their land. Contemporary cuisine Since Madagascar gained independence from French colonial rule in 1960, Malagasy cuisine has reflected the island's diverse cultures and historic influences. Throughout the country, rice is considered the preeminent food and constitutes the main staple of the diet in all but the most arid regions of the south and west. Accompanying dishes served with rice vary regionally according to availability of ingredients and local cultural norms. Outside the home, Malagasy cuisine is served at simple roadside stalls (gargottes) or sit-down eateries (hotely). Snacks and rice-based meals may also be purchased from ambulatory street vendors. Upscale restaurants offer a wider variety of foreign cuisine and Malagasy dishes bearing French and other outside influences in preparation technique, ingredients and presentation alike. Rice (vary) Rice (vary) is the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet and is typically consumed at every meal. The verb "to eat a meal" in the Malagasy language is commonly mihinam-bary —literally, to eat rice. Rice may be prepared with varying amounts of water to produce a fluffy dry rice (vary maina, ) eaten with some kind of accompaniment (laoka) in sauce. It may also be prepared with extra water to produce a soupy rice porridge called vary sosoa () which is typically eaten for breakfast or prepared for the sick. Vary sosoa may be accompanied with a dry laoka such as kitoza, smoked strips of zebu meat. A popular variation, vary amin'anana (), is a traditional porridge made with rice, meat and chopped greens. During a highland famadihana (reburial ceremony), a special kind of rice called vary be menaka (, "rice with much fat") is rice served with fatty chunks of