Steamed Mealie Bread (Corn Bread)

White corn or mealies as we call them

Mealie bread is a great South African favourite meal; not so long ago, you could even buy mealie bread in a tin, which you then boiled in its tin in a pot of hot water on top of the stove until it was cooked. The product was seasonal, but in my younger and single days it constituted a staple meal for me, and I greatly regretted it when it was no longer available on the shelves. I never knew why it was whipped off, but I can only assume that the sales did not justify continuing with this product. However, every time I see 'green mealies' (that is, mealies with their fresh green leaves still covering them) I long for mealie bread. Besides, I have wonderful memories of my grandmother making mealie bread and it was definitely then time to learn to make my own and share this with my children.

In South Africa, we have a strong preference for white corn or mealies, and as a result mealies refer to the white variety, while we tend to call the sweeter, yellow corn "sweet corn", thereby differentiating the two. The term mealie comes from the Portuguese term milho who of course had established farms of food-crops in Northern Africa many hundreds of years ago. South Africans have a strong proclivity for white maize, and something like 94% of maize grown in this country is white, and used for maize meal which is primarily for human consumption; maize is the staple food of the country. Mealie meal (which is dried maize generally crushed up), in turn is used to make putu or pap. Such white mealie meal can be used even for breakfast porridge.

There are many recipes for mealie bread, many call for tins of corn or sweet corn, some use mealie meal in the mix, or add flour. However, I remember the mealie bread my grandmother used to make at Lyn Avis in Ixopo, which was always just bursting with fresh mealie flavour . Her mealie bread was more crumbly than most breads since she was allergic to eggs and hence had to leave them out of the mix, and I still remember her frown of disapproval at the resulting texture, even though she knew the reason for it - such is perfectionism in baking. I battled to find a simple recipe but fortunately my aunt unearthed one from I think an original Women's Institute recipe book, which was all about the corn, and not about the bread. I'm a great advocate of the simple recipes with few ingredients that are all about enjoying the flavour of each. 

Steamed Mealie or Corn Bread Recipe

5 cups of minced raw green mealies - approximately six large mealie cobs

1 large egg, beaten

Salt to taste - more tends to be a little better than less

2 Tablespoons of butter

2 Tablespoons of sugar 

1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Optional - 125ml or ½ cup of milk 

First, cut the corn off the cob:

Corn is cut off from the cob using a sharp knife

Next, place the corn or mealies into a liquidiser or a mincer until they are nicely minced up. If they are particularly hard, as may happen if you have had to wait a few days before using them, then this is where a few judicious sploshes of milk may not only help you mince them up (particularly if you are using a blender) but also help soften them up. If, on the other hand, they are really young and tender, some recommend putting a slide of bread in the blender to soak up the juices, but since I prefer my mealie bread to be mostly about the mealies, I would simply advocate steaming or baking it for longer. 

Another preference I have is for it not to be minced too fine since I like to be able to chew on a few kernels, but this is optional - many prefer the mealies very finely ground up and it certainly makes for a less chewy final result. However, either way is entirely optional. 

Add the butter, sugar, salt and baking powder to the minced up mealies:

Minced mealies or white corn, butter, sugar, salt and baking powder

Lastly, add the beaten egg, which we whisked in a small bowl by hand to ensure that there were a few bubbles in it. However, this is a very stodgy bread nonetheless - do not expect something light to emanate from your pan, this is the kind of stuff that sticks to your stomach and fills it, not some kind of frou-frou artistic froth. Oh no, this is the kind of thing armies can march upon. 

Place into a greased pudding bowl, and steam over boiling water for at least two and a half hours. Make sure that you have placed grease-proof paper over the bread to ensure that steam does not keep getting into the bread, thereby making it moister. In my case, the bowl was a bit deep, so while most of the bread cooked within the time period, the middle was still a little uncooked - so I had to turn the bread over to cook on the other side. Some advocate putting the mealie bread in a tin, and filling it to the ¾ mark, and then essentially boiling it in water - that may also be worth a try.

Mealie bread steamed on top of the stove

When removed, the bread should look like this. Although it turned out well in the end, the time taken is achingly long (especially if the kids are hungry) and hence next time I will experiment with baking the bread in the oven since it should be a lot quicker. If so, it should be placed in the oven at 180 ºC or 360 ºF for approximately 45 minutes, and if so, it would be best to put it in a shallow cake tin.

Slather on some butter, adding a bit more salt if need be, and serve hot:

Mealie bread hot from the oven or steam pot

It made for a perfect, and very filling lunch on this slightly damp day.