East Africa · Main
Kitoza (Smoked and sun-dried seasoned beef strips)
Tender yet intensely chewy cured zebu beef strips infused with crushed garlic, coriander, and woodsmoke, pan-seared to a caramelized finish.
The story
Rooted in the pastoral traditions of the Bara and Merina peoples, Kitoza was developed as an ancestral preservation technique for prized zebu beef across the vast Malagasy savannahs. Eaten at dawn alongside watery rice porridge (vary sosoa) or in the evening with dry rice and broth (vary maina sy ro), it is an essential staple of traditional hospitality. The meat is meticulously sliced along the grain into long ribbon banners, lightly cured with mineral salt, sun-dried on wooden racks, and gently smoked over slow-burning acacia embers.
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