Pap (food)
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (February 2013) |
 Ugali and cabbage | |
| Alternative names | Mieliepap |
|---|---|
| Typ | Porridge |
| Place of origin | Southern Africa |
| Main ingredients | Mielie-meal |
Pap /ˈpɑːp/, also known as mieliepap (Afrikaans for maize porridge) in South Africa, is a traditional porridge/polenta made from mielie-meal (ground maize) and a staple food of the Bantu inhabitants of Southern Africa (the Afrikaans word pap is taken from Dutch and simply means "porridge"). Many traditional Southern African dishes include pap, such as smooth maize meal porridge (also called slap pap or soft porridge), pap with a very thick consistency that can be held in the hand (stywe pap or firm porridge) and a more dry crumbly phuthu pap. Phuthu dishes are usually found in the coastal areas of South Africa.
A variety of savouries can be used to accompany pap, made from green vegetables, and flavoured with chilli.
Afrikaners in the northern parts of South Africa eat it as breakfast staple, with milk, butter and sugar, but also serve it with meat and tomato-stew (usually tomato and onion) at other meals, When they are having a braai, stywe pap or phutu pap with a savoury sauce like tomato and onion or mushroom and cheese is an important part of the meal.
In the Cape province of South Africa it is almost exclusively seen as a breakfast food. Since mielie-meal is inexpensive, poor people combine it with vegetables. It can be served hot or, after it has cooled, it can be fried. Phutu porridge is sometimes enjoyed with chakalaka as a side dish with braais.
Similar dishes
Pap is also called ugali in eastern and some parts of southern Africa; In Zimbabwe amongst the Shona speaking people it is called sadza and amongst the Ndebele it is called isitshwala ; nsima in Zambia and Malawi; phaletshe in Botswana and banku in West Africa.
In Nigeria, it is called akamu amongst the Igbo and ogi amongst the Yorubas with a consistency similar to American pudding. Ogi/Akamu in Nigeria is generally accompanied with "moin moin" a bean pudding or "akara" which is a bean cake. A similar dish is polenta, from northern Italy. In the United States a similar dish is known as grits. The primary difference between the US and the Southern African dishes is that in the US the maize (or corn) used is a yellow kernel maize, whereas in South Africa maize is especially grown for human consumption with white kernels, allowing the whole kernel to be used for the maize meal.
Dishes similar to pap include isidudu, uphuthu, umpokoqo and umngqusho.
