It's time for some food from Lesotho! Both the dishes I made for the South African enclave country are fun to say: chakalaka and mealie bread. Mealie bread is basically cornbread but...better (yeah I said it), and chakalaka is a very unique "relish" made of veggies and baked beans.
I'll start with the mealie bread. I don't really like the word mealie because it evokes an image of mealworms but also it makes it sound like it's going to have a mealy texture, which is not what you want in cornbread. However, the word mealie is just the word for corn in South Africa and Lesotho, and it comes from the Portuguese word milho. The base of the mealie bread is corn meal, regular flour, and some baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The recipe I used called for several tablespoons of sugar which I didn't add, since I feel like it's unnecessary.
Now, the secret ingredient in mealie bread is actual kernels of corn, which are pulsed in a food processor until coarsely ground, not the consistency of creamed corn but enough to release some liquid to boost the moisture content.
The corn is mixed in with the dry ingredients along with some eggs, milk, and butter.
And then the batter is cooked until nice and golden brown. I added some cracked black pepper on top because honestly pepper and corn is one of my favorite flavor combinations. From this picture you might think this cornbread is dry and crumbly but let me tell you...it was the opposite. It was so moist and fluffy and it just tasted of fresh corn. So delicious. I don't think I'll ever go back to making cornbread without adding some crushed up fresh corn in there too.
While my mealie bread was in the oven, I started my chakalaka. To my American mind, when I hear "relish" I think of chopped up pickles for hot dogs. But around the world, relish can mean so many different things. I would normally consider this more of a stew mixed with a slaw, but Wikipedia says it's a relish, so.
Chakalaka is staple for any barbeque, just as cole slaw is for Americans. It consists of whatever vegetables you have on hand: often cabbage, peppers, and carrots, which is what I used here, along with tomatoes, which can be either fresh or canned. The veggies are cooked with a medley of different spices until softened just a tiny bit.
Then comes the fun part: baked beans! This is meant to be a cheap, simple meal made with tinned ingredients, so this makes sense. I've never seen baked beans used in this way though. I've only ever seen baked beans served as their own dish.
And to be honest, I have never like baked beans. I don't like the idea of sweetness and beans sharing the same space (unless we're talking about red bean paste). And it's just such a sugary flavor. I love molasses, but generally in cookie form. However, when mixed with the spices and the vegetables, I think it was able to balance out pretty well. You have the acid from the tomatoes and the mild bitterness of the cabbage and peppers. Plus all the different spices complement the molasses sweetness too.
Even though it's meant to be a side dish, I served it as the main because beans are protein right? It's actually really filling and can definitely stand on its own, but it's especially good when paired with that creamy mealie bread. Although I made this in March (which feels like forever ago--this was right before the pandemic became real for a lot of people in the US), I can still taste it when I think about it. I probably won't be making chakalaka again, unless it's without the beans because I still don't really like them, but I am absolutely making that mealie bread again once it's cool enough to turn on the oven without dying from heat exhaustion.
Recipes Used: Mealie Bread // Chakalaka
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