Porridge, African Style

I grew up in Africa. First in Zambia which is in Central Africa, and then in Ghana, which is in West Africa. I must have had one of the most un-orthodox upbringings, and dear Sue Bradford would have been horrified to see how my parents let me run around without supervision, and with all sorts of folk who I am sure would not have been good company for such a young girl.

My backyard was the wild savannahs, the forests and lakes. My pets were elephants, impala and a cute little tortoise… my food was snake, fried grasshoppers and snails the size of a grown man’s fist.

I miss living there, and this includes the amazing foods. You haven’t enjoyed food until you’ve done so watching the sun set over the Sahara, where the land looks like it’s been set alight.

Yesterday, on a trip to Fred’s Fine Foods, a shop that specialises in South African foods to get some biltong, koeksister and droewors, I also bought a big bag of maize meal… and this morning my mother and I made mealie meal porridge.
Talk about nostalgia! It tasted just as good as I remember!

The following is the recipe for this divine porridge…

Mealie Meal Porridge

Ingredients: (enough for one person, increase proportionally as required.)
1/2 cup (125ml) maize meal
1/2 cup cold water
1 cup boiling water
pinch of salt to taste
sugar or golden syrup, & a dollop of cold milk

Method:
Mix the maize meal with the cold water until it forms a paste with no lumps (a wire whisk will help.)
In a non-stick saucepan, add the paste and the cup of boiling water; set the heat on the stove to medium and place saucepan on top.
Stir like yer life depends on it, scrape the bottom and mix the paste in well with the hot water ensuring there are no lumps. Use a wooden spoon btw, unless you really want a new non-stick saucepan.
Once it starts simmering, set the heat to low and cover the saucepan.
For the next five minutes, stir the mixture, then cover, stir the mixture then cover. Mixture should thicken during this period.
Once five minutes is up, give it one final stir, cover, turn off the heat, and leave it alone for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, stir again, then ladle into bowl, add as much sugar as you like (depending on your sweet tooth) and a dollop of cold milk.
Stir, and enjoy ^_^

There are many different ways of making this porridge, and in South Africa there are many names for this “pap” depending on consistancy and how it’s cooked.
Maize meal (or mealie meal) can be bought from any South African specialty store.