In this case umphokoqo is a dish fit for the former president- uTata. Well, according to Anna Trapido the author of Hunger for Freedom, this is TaTa’s favourite dish and he likes it served with sour milk from iselwa/calabash.
It’s true when they say you can leave the rural life and go to the city but the roots will never leave you. That’s the case with Umphokoqo or better known as African salad. It is a dish best served in summer and does not require much preparation. This dish is versatile in that Xhosas serve it with sour milk whereas Zulus serve it with stew.
Now let me take you through my experience with this dish……
Growing up on a farm cows were milked everyday and that meant we ate Umphokoqo on a daily basis. We had it for breakfast, lunch and supper. It was dished up in a big bowl and four children had to share two spoons i.e. two boys and two girls. There was a big competition you had to eat pretty fast and pass the spoon, the boys used to beat us. As you can imagine boys eat faster than girls. Because I had it everyday I just hated it as a teenager and a young adult. However, I have recently made a conscious decision to start eating umphokoqo……….whenever I prepare this dish I just remember the good times on the farm.
Umphokoqo Recipe
Serves: 3
700ml mealie meal
575ml water, boiling
7.5 ml salt
5 ml butter / margarine (optional)
1. Boil the water with a kettle and add to a medium saucepan.
2. Continue boiling the water in the pan and add mealie meal. Stir with a fork until mixed and cover with a lid.
3. Let simmer and continue stirring at 5 minute intervals. Cook for 30 minutes at stove setting 2.
4. Transfer to a big bowl and shake the umphokoqo up and down to cool it down. Serve with milk or sour milk. For extra flavour and richness add 2 tablespoons of cream
A lot of people who love umphokoqo also love intshela (foundation), so when cooking this lovely dish try not to scorch the foundation otherwise your family will be very upset with you! It’s very nice with milk especially when it’s still warm mmmmmm!
I love this – we know it as putu pap.
My mom often makes this for us as a weekend breakfast treat – served with milk and salt (yes salt – so good!).
Your mom sounds like a real South African woman, I like her already! I would love to see the recipe on your blog…please share
Mmmmh! Umphokoqo namasi… That was my favourite dish when I was growing up, and still is. There were four of us and a big bowl of it. We did “racing” in spoons, our young brother would pick up the dish and run away with it, saying the little left is for the young one.
Umphokoqo namasi, mmmmh! That was my favorite as I grew up, and still is. When I want it, you can have your well prepared dishes and give me that. When I grew up, my mom would give it to us(four brothers) a big bowl. And when there is little left our young brother would take the bowl and ran away with it saying, “the little left is for the young one”
still one of my favourite dishes – especially in summer. I can have it twice in one week. i remember growing up when we didnt have sour milk – we used irhewu for uvuba, so its name would be called umcuku not umvubo – love both but i now prefer umvubo lol.
I’ve never tasted Umcuku I’ll give it a try one of these days. Thanks for your comment!
I love this dish it’s easy and quick to prepare. I normally enjoy it in summer when it’s too hot to stand long in front of a stove.
I just looove this for breakfast!!
I loved reading your memories, thanks for sharing! I love the intshela cold, spread with butter….so good!
Its a pleasure Linda! I never thought of having intshela with butter…I’ll give it a try…thanks for your comments!:-)
Mieliepap… thats what it is. I love it except with the sour milk, sometimes mix in a bit of strawberry jam. The African names for the dishes makes it a bit daunting to try but once you go through the recipe and make it yourself it is absolutely delicious. I’ll be coming back to your blog to check for more interesting recipes. Keep it up.
Hi Nazz, thank you for visiting and commenting! Mielie pap – I thought about using the term however I felt it might be confusing. For instance some grew up exposed to three types of mielie pap namely the soft porridge (Isidudu) the soft one with a consistency of a custard. Its eaten for breakfast and we usually have it with milk, sugar and vinegar, peanut butter etc. Then there’s the stiff pap (Umqa), which is usually eaten with your chakalakas, meat etc. Last but not least we have the course pap (umphokoqo /phutu). I understand the african names may be daunting but I also think its important that we use them for clarity and to avoid confusion because they are specific. It is very interesting to hear how different cultures consume and prepare the different kinds of pap.
Wow, Thuli I am truly enjoying your website!!! All these dellicious dishes and all the memories that come with them remind me of home, family and being xhosa! I’m now married to a venda man and introducing these traditional xhosa dishes to my kids and in laws are always filled with shock, confusion and ultimately delight at these meals.
Loving your blog so much, keep it up!
Hey Babs! I’m glad you are enjoying the site
We’ll be showcasing the Venda dishes as well…I’m sure your family will love them!
My mum also loves having this dish with Maas…she also sprinkles a bit of sugar and extra butter when eating……………..I’m Indian and the Indians of my parents generation were too poor to afford wheat or rice, so they lived on maize flour, samp, mealie rice…..and i love these mealie based foods too.
We also love that dish of pumpkin leaves prepared with ground nuts and ground mealies. Yum.
Hi Thuli. What a great site you have!!! I can’t wait trying out the vetkoek and lamb and dumpling stew recipes. I also grew up with mielie pap – all three versions of it! I especially remember eating phutu pap (krummel pap) with my grandma. We used to add loads of butter and sugar – no milk. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.
My grandparents fed it to us with grated tomatoes and soft boiled eggs all mixed together with salt and white pepper……have made it for my husband and he is hooked.
hi, we know it as “krummelpap” and had it a lot with friends on their Karoo farm. The Xhosa Mama’s in the kitchen cooked this on the coal stove and also added whole corn to it. Then we would add (!!): milk, sugar, cheese and butter. I couldn’t stop before the 3rd helping. THOSE WERE THE BEST DAYS!!
Hi Anel, thanks for visiting, It looks like they were the best days indeed lol! I should give that combination a try:-)
Thule
Phuthu pap and fresh milk (straight from the cow, an hour ago) takes me back to weekends spent at my cousin’s farm in KZN.
When I really want to impress my husband, I make phutu pap with ‘Braai Pap Mielie Meal’ on the weekend, braai pap adds another dimension to the phutu pap. It’s coarser than super and special maize meal. The rough texture is what makes it so special. The left overs are warmed up the next day in the microwave.
Hi Maxine,
Thanks for your comment. I’ve never tried the braai pap mielie meal, infact I’ve never even seen it at retail stores. I’ll be on the look out for it. Thanks for the suggestion!