Krummelpap/Putu Pap (Crumbly porridge)

Long weekends are truly the stuff dreams are made of. You get to recharge, sleep late and best of all indulge in the kind of breakfasts that you never have time for during the week. 

I love a good breakfast, but truth be told, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to cooking so soon after I wake up. Supper I'll do, even lunch, but breakfast, oooh boy I need some strong motivation to find myself with a spoon in the kitchen during the AM hours. 

Some breakfasts are worth it though. Like some deliciously creamy scrambled eggs, perhaps dotted with salmon and piled high on a fresh buttery croissant. Or perhaps some cinnamon-y syrup-y Finnish Pancakes. Even a plain muffin goes down very well when it's fresh and the perfect balance between moistness and crumb. 

While those are all great breakfasts though, few things evoke such wonderful memories as krummelpap(say: krim-mel-pup). Krummelpap is not glamorous, nor is it particularly trendy, but it takes me straight back to my childhood. My my mom used to make a pot of krummelpap whenever we had family visiting (see, this no-cooking thing in the mornings is in the genes) and the smell of the steaming pap never failed to bring a smile to our faces.

The dish was always served with stories of how my mom, as a little girl, used to beg their domestic worker (who was like a second mom to her) to give her some of the porridge she made for her own children in the mornings. And, according to my mom, that's where she learned to eat it with milk and salt instead of sugar. She still eats it that way, and this custom was also adopted by my brother and me. So much so that I can't imagine eating it with sugar (strange, considering my sweet tooth!). 

Such is the power of nostalgia. Sitting at the breakfast table with a bowl of krummelpap on Saturday, it was almost as if I could smell my mom in the tempting aroma of the pap. And it truly felt like home.
 

I'm submitting this to the Monthly Mingle - South Africa created by the fabulous Meeta from What's For Lunch Honey.

Krummelpap 

Slightly adapted from Rainbow Cooking

Serves 4

2 1/2 cups boiling water

a pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups maize meal

1. Add water and salt to a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. 

2. Add the maize meal to the water, but don't stir (very tempting I know!). Cover with lid, lower heat and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. 

3. Using a fork, fluff the porridge, then cover again and allow to cook for another 30 minutes. Fluff sporadically during this time. A crust will form on the bottom of the pan - this is not a problem and in fact is treasured by many people (including myself). 

4. Serve warm with warmed milk and sugar (as most people from the southern parts of South Africa eats it), or warmed milk and salt (like my mom taught us) for breakfast. It can also be served with tamatiesmoor (a tomato and onion gravy) as side-dish to a braai (barbeque) - the majority of people from the northern parts of South Africa eat it this way.

Nutritional info (per serving): Calories 251.2, Total fat 0.8 g, Saturated fat 0.0 g, Polyunsaturated fat 0.0 g, Monounsaturated fat 0.0 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 40.3 mg, Potassium 0.0 mg, Total carbohydrate 57.5 g, Dietary fiber 4.3 g, Sugars 0.0 g, Protein 5.8 g

Good source of: Vitamin B6 23.6 %, Thiamin 20.5 %