▁the ▁earliest ▁sett lers , ▁to ▁the ▁ref ined ▁festival ▁d ishes ▁prepared ▁for ▁the ▁island ' s ▁ 1 9 th - century ▁monarch s . ▁Through out ▁almost ▁the ▁entire ▁island , ▁the ▁contemporary ▁cu is ine ▁of ▁Mad agas car ▁typically ▁consists ▁of ▁a ▁base ▁of ▁rice ▁( v ary ) ▁served ▁with ▁an ▁accompan iment ▁( la oka ). ▁The ▁many ▁vari eties ▁of ▁la oka ▁may ▁be ▁veget arian ▁or ▁include ▁animal ▁prote ins , ▁and ▁typically ▁feature ▁a ▁sau ce ▁flav ored ▁with ▁such ▁ing red ients ▁as ▁g inger , ▁on ion , ▁gar lic , ▁tom ato , ▁van illa , ▁co con ut ▁milk , ▁salt , ▁cur ry ▁pow der , ▁green ▁pe pper c orn s ▁or , ▁less ▁commonly , ▁other ▁sp ices ▁or ▁her bs . ▁In ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁ar id ▁south ▁and ▁west , ▁past oral ▁families ▁may ▁replace ▁rice ▁with ▁ma ize , ▁c ass ava , ▁or ▁cur ds ▁made ▁from ▁fer ment ed ▁z eb u ▁milk . ▁A ▁wide ▁variety ▁of ▁sweet ▁and ▁sav ory ▁f rit ters ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁other ▁street ▁food s ▁are ▁available ▁across ▁the ▁island , ▁as ▁are ▁diverse ▁tropical ▁and ▁temper ate - cl imate ▁f ruits . ▁Loc ally ▁produced ▁be ver ages ▁include ▁fruit ▁ju ices , ▁coffee , ▁her bal ▁te as ▁and ▁te as , ▁and ▁alco hol ic ▁drink s ▁such ▁as ▁rum , ▁wine , ▁and ▁be er . ▁Three ▁H ors