Xoliswa Ndoyiya was Nelson Mandela's personal cook from 1992. Her job interview consisted of just one question: “Can you cook our home food?”

 Here is the recipe for Umphokoqo, a porridge made of maize meal and sour milk which was one of Madiba's favourite foods.  He had it made whilst staying at The Dorchester in London.

Mr Suffolkfoodie having been brought up in South Africa also enjoys a bowl of this on most mornings.

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt 
2 cups mealie meal ( polenta )
1 litre amasi (sour milk similar to buttermilk, buttermilk will do)

Method

Bring the salted water to a boil.

Add mealie meal, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and, stirring throughout, cook until the porridge is soft, approximately 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, stop stirring. Reduce the heat to an absolute minimum and cover the pot with a lid for 15 minutes or until the texture is totally soft (if there are still granules, the mixture is not yet cooked).

Remove from the heat, turn the contents of the pot into a large bowl and allow it to cool completely.

Serve with soured milk on the side so that each diner can determine how sour they would like their umphokoqo to be. The soured milk is then stirred into the porridge.