Over the weekend I visited my family. Amongst other goodies, my parents gave me proteas from their garden, and a sack of mealie meal. The protea is the South African National Flower, while the mealie meal is a South African staple food. Today I combined the two for a double hit of South Africa, and spent the morning reflecting on my home-land.
Mealie meal, aka ‘mielie meel’, can be prepared in numeorous ways. In our family, my mother would cook it on the stovetop for a crumbled, dry consistency which is then served with savoury food from the ‘braai’, or BBQ. More often though, she prepares it as a porridge (or ‘pap’), when the coarsely ground corn forms a smooth consistency, and is served with milk, butter, and sugar for breakfast.
Growing up in a home where we used to eat mielie meel on a semi-regular basis, and having spent my childhood in South Africa, one would assume that I know how to prepare it. Wrong. Somehow I missed that lesson… and mielie meel doesn’t come with instructions. My mother handed me the sack of meel with the advice: either start off with the water boiling, then add the meel for a crubmly texture, or start with cold water mixed with the meel for a smooth texture. I was left to my own devices around quantities.
Somehow my first stove-top attempt for pap was a success this morning. Perhaps the skill is intrinsic to South African born females.
I wish I could share an exact recipe here, but it was all a bit hodgepodge.
Miele Pap Recipe
I started with 2 1/2 tablespoons of meel, and about a cup of water. This went on a low heat, and as it thickened, I added a little water and milk. Be careful not to undercook, assuming it is ready when thickened. Look out for the softened granules. Keep cooking slowly and adding water as required, until you find the individual grains are soft and the texture is creamy. This took bout ten minutes on stovetop for one serve. Be sure to add salt as you cook. Serve with a lump of butter, sugar and a dash of milk.
mélange of me 