Mielie-meal

Mielie Meal or Mielie Pap (or maize meal) is a relatively coarse flour (much coarser than cornflour or cornstarch) made from maize which is known as mielies[1] or mealies in southern Africa, from the Portuguese milho. The Portuguese had originally brought corn from the Americas to Africa.

Mielie Meal

Mielie Meal paste served with syrup as a breakfast dish
Alternative names	Mielie Pap
Type	Flour; staple food
Course	Any, often breakfast
Place of origin	South Africa
Main ingredients	Maize
Similar dishes	Cornmeal
Cookbook: Mielie Meal

It is a food that was originally eaten by the Voortrekkers during The Great Trek, but has become the staple diet of South Africa, because of its ability to be stored without refrigeration, it is cheap and abundant in all shops and markets. It is a staple food in South Africa,[2] Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana and many other parts of Southern Africa, traditionally made into uphuthu, sour-milk porridge, pap, and also umqombothi (a type of beer).

The raw ingredient of mielie meal is added to boiling water, the ratio of which produces either porridge[2] or the firmer pap/nshima/sadza. When making porridge, milk it is sometimes used to produce a creamier dish, the porridge usually has a thick texture and is commonly eaten for breakfast in southern Africa. The firmer pap is eaten with meat and gravy dishes as well as vegetable relishes. It is similar to Italian polenta except that it, like grits in the Southern United States, is usually made of a white rather than a yellow maize variety.