This is the brand of maize meal I typically buy - usually because this is the ONLY brand on the shelf where I shop. There are other brands avail in Gabs, but not all stores carry all brands. Anyway, this maize meal (also referred to as "mealie meal") is used to make pap (pronounced "pop"). Here's a recipe I found on 'how' to make this basic dish. Very easy! (Plus, our gardener's daughter showed me how to make this dish.)
This is what the maize meal looks like in the pot, before adding water. This is about 1 cup. The texture is very smooth and powdery. When cooked, the pap looks like good ol' southern US mashed potatoes, except that it isn't fluffy. The taste is very, very bland. Tastes a bit like grits - since this is made from corn! This food is very, very filling - which is why this is so popular to eat. You don't spend much money to satisfy your hunger. (Cost of a 5 kg bag, which is about
11 lbs, is P21.70 = $3.16) This bag would last a family of 4, that eats pap at every evening meal, about a week - maybe less. Depends on whether they have any meat or vegetables to go with their pap. Most families make a huge pot of this for their evening meal. I only made a small portion for us recently, and served it with our homemade chili.
The standard practice is to serve the pap with seswaa and/or some type of tomato and onion relish. Seswaa is meat that is boiled and then pounded to death! Here's a recipe for seswaa I found online. Relishes such as the Sheba Sauce, pictured below, or another one called Chakalaka are popular. The basic components of these relishes are tomatoes, onions, and spicy peppers. The relishes are available in various "heat" forms - depending on how spicy you like your food. I
I recently attended a formal function here in Gabs, and this is a picture of my plate.
Since I'm from the good ol' southern US, I'm going to experiment with the pap recipe to yield something similar to grits! I'll let you know how it turns out. I miss my grits!
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