Strange how things combine. Barry Simmonds posted some
pictures of old mincers on Facebook, which reminded some of the group of how, as kids, they helped make mealie bread. Then the next day, Sainsbury's had a BOGOF offer on sweetcorn, so of course I had to try it.
I started out with the recipe from the Heritage Publishing South African Cookbook (ISBN 9781919750590) but it was an unmitigated disaster - a glutinous lump with the texture of a dumpling. Having consulted an expert (Felicity) I was told that the problem was with the mealies. They need to be on the elderly side and getting a bit dry so I needed a different recipe to use sweetcorn, which a little research among mum's material turned out. It called for tinned sweetcorn so a little adjustment was needed but the result was just about spot on:
175g (3 quite large cobs) Sweetcorn
36 ml (2 Tbsp) Oil
250 ml (1/2 cup) Milk
2 very large Eggs
175g (3/4 cup) Mealie Meal
175g (3/4 cup) Flour
15 ml (3 tsp) Baking Powder
5ml (1 tsp) Salt
36 ml (2 Tbsp) Sugar
Cut the sweetcorn kernels off the cobs with a very sharp knife and then scrape to get the bits that are left. Mince.
Beat together the oil, milk and eggs. Add the sweetcorn and then blend in the dry ingredients. Put in a greased mould and then steam for two hours.
I didn't have a steamer so used a 1.5 litre (3 pint) souffle dish which I covered in foil and steamed on three blocks of wood in a cast iron casserole. I actually did this in the oven at 160 C but I suspect it would have worked just as well on top of the stove. I put in enough boiling water at the beginning to come about a third of the way up the side of the souffle dish and topped it up after an hour.
Tasted just as good as mum's.
