When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Madagascar

In Madagascar, The Democratization Of French Cheese

In one of the world's poorest countries, cheese is still a niche market. And yet, little by little, even the working class are starting to getting a taste.

Cheese is first and foremost a luxury product in Madagascar
Cheese is first and foremost a luxury product in Madagascar
Laure Verneau

ANTSIRABE — Sam Mimouni holds out his artisanal Fourme d'Ambert, a semi-hard, French blue cheese. "The more it stinks, the better it is," he jokes.

The gray rind, the visible mold, the melting texture: This is the perfect example of the Auvergne specialty, but without the official French designation of origin. There's a reason for that. Sam doesn't live in central France; he's in Madagascar, in the town of Antsirabe, 172 kilometers south of the capital, Antananarivo.

At Le Comptoir des Hautes Terres, his cheese store located on one of the city's main streets, the Frenchman has been making 25 different varieties of cheese for nearly 20 years.

"Here, we make the classic cheeses," he says, "And I also create some with typically Malagasy ingredients."

The rind is washed with local beer; the center is made of dried caviar, pink berries and wild pepper. Local flavors reinvent the dairy specialty.

It is not by chance that one of the largest former French colonies has such a savoir-faire, between imitation and emancipation. Antsirabe is located in the Vakinankaratra region, a dairy bastion in the center of the Grande Île (Big Island). Here, the cheese industry dates back to the colonial era, when Norwegian, Catholic and Protestant missions imported the first dairy cows, as well as their technical mastery, from pasteurization to maturation.

So who can dream of a local fondue when the first frost falls on the highlands?

Nowadays, while the dairies that produce the classic western cheese varieties are generally French, those in the countryside — which make up the majority — are run by Malagasy. The country produces 120 million liters of milk per year. This is an infinitesimal quantity compared to Brittany and its 5 billion liters per year. But it's enough for a cheese culture to exist and spread, as paradoxical as it may seem.

Madagascar is one of the five poorest nations in the world and 75% of its inhabitants live on less than $2 a day. Some 2,000 kilometers from Antsirabe, in the extreme south of the country, the population is suffering from a lack of water and is experiencing one of the worst famines in its history.

In this context, enjoying a well-made blue cheese or camembert is not a national food priority. Especially since a kilo of cheese from an artisanal dairy is sold for an average of 10 euros (roughly $12), according to figures from 2017. So who can dream of a local fondue when the first frost falls on the highlands?

"Here, cheese is first and foremost a luxury product, the consumption of which is gradually becoming more accessible," says Jérôme Bergon, who for six years has managed the Lactimad cheese factory, also based in Antsirabe.

Like Mimouni, Bergon has a mixed clientele, equal parts Vazahas (tourists or expatriates) and Malagasy from the capital with "good purchasing power." On the Big Island, there is no certification, except the certificate of consumability issued by the Ministry of Commerce, which gives way to wagering permits on the market.

"Brie is my favorite," says Domohina, an office worker who came to Lactimad to buy raclette and Vacherin for the weekend. "I give it to my children for a snack or breakfast, but not every day. It costs too much!"

Grated on a pizza or in pasta, food traditions are evolving with the supply.

"For a long time, it was difficult to sell cheeses other than semi-cooked cheeses with a uniform color and no roughness," says Mimouni. "But in recent years, the palate has become more complex and the clientele from Antananarivo is more inclined to try stronger specialties."

"Our customers are diverse, but I would say the vast majority are Malagasy," says Serge Randriamahefasoa, who runs the Maminiaina dairy on the edge of Antsirabe. "They regularly come to buy assortments for family celebrations, for example. These customers belong to the middle class, if that exists here at all."

This trained computer programmer turned to cheese 15 years ago when he took over the family business. Since then, he has been producing round cheeses coated in wax, like Saint Paulin or raclette, which are sold in all the country's supermarkets at 16,000 ariary (about $4.20) per 500 grams.

Other, even more affordable options do exist. In Antsirabe's bistros, you can find small cheeses made on the same day, unripened for 2,000 ariary (about $0.50). These are enjoyed as "tsaky-tsaky" ("snack" in Malagasy) with a glass of rum at the end of the day. Cheese may not yet be a popular product in Madagascar, but it is at last beginning to be more accessible to people with different sized incomes.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

Since creating a controversial commission against "Russian influence", Polish President Andrzej Duda has faced criticism from the United States and the European Union. Duda has since offered to make several changes to the law, but several experts in Brussels remain unconvinced that the law will not become a witch hunt ahead of the upcoming elections.

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

This story was updated on June 8, 2023 at 1:30 p.m. local time

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law last week, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

On Wednesday, the European Commission launched legal action against Poland over the highly controversial law. Brussels fears the law could be used to target opposition politicians in the run-up to Poland's general election, which takes place later this year.

Indeed, University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Already a subscriber? Log in.

You've reach your limit of free articles.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime.

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Ad-free experience NEW

Exclusive international news coverage

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Monthly Access

30-day free trial, then $2.90 per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch

The latest