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Umngqusho

Samp and sugar beans

Xhosa households from Mthatha to Qunu put a pot of umngqusho on the fire on Sunday morning and let it murmur for hours while the rest of lunch comes together; Nelson Mandela famously named it his favourite meal. Crushed maize kernels and speckled sugar beans cook down together into something halfway between a risotto and a bean stew, chewy and creamy at once, sweet with slowly softened onion and thickened by potato that collapses into the pot. Eat it as it is with a spoon of chakalaka, or next to cabbage and a tomato relish. The usual mistake is skipping the overnight soak: unsoaked samp stays chalky in the centre no matter how long you cook it. Chef's tip: hold back the salt until the samp is soft, then season generously, because this dish swallows salt.

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