Pap is a staple in Botswana. It is made from cornmeal and beef broth and is a base at most meals. Read on to find out how to make this authentic Batswana recipe!
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One of my favorite memories from the blog so far has been the Angola cookoff that I had with Mama Foreign Fork. Do you remember? If you’ve stuck around for long enough to know what I’m talking about… thank you and I love you.
Basically, Mama Foreign Fork and I made Funje from Angola, which is a staple dish from the country. Funje a mixture of cassava flour and water, and acts as a base for quite a few Angolan meals. Funje wasn’t my favorite dish on the planet, but the experience of cooking it was fun… and now I’m back for more.
Botswana has a dish very similar to funje called Pap. Instead of being made out of cassava flour and water, though, Pap is made by mixing cornmeal and beef broth. Everything else about the dish is the same.
What is It?
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Pap, also known as mieliepap, is a staple in Botswana. It acts as the base for many dishes because it’s inexpensive and filling. In fact, cornmeal (or maize meal) is so inexpensive in Botswana that it’s common to mix Pap with vegetables. This makes the dish heartier and adds more nutrients to it. The Batswana also add butter and sugar to their Pap in the morning and eat it as a kind of porridge to start their day.
Tips for Making Pap
When making your Pap, make sure to serve it immediately, because it will stiffen as it cools. Also, be sure to use white cornmeal in place of yellow cornmeal if you can help it. The Batswana always use white cornmeal because it has a more roasted flavor, so that is the way to get the most authentic Pap.
This dish is best served as a base for another classic Batswana dish, Seswaa. Click here for a link to a great Seswaa recipe.
Did you have a fun time trying to make this dish? Did you love trying something authentic from another country? Be sure to check out this recipe for funje from Angola or this Pispili from Albania. If you’ve challenged yourself to your own culinary adventure, be sure to let me see photos on Facebook or Instagram by tagging @TheForeignFork and hashtagging #TheForeignFork. Thanks for stopping by!
Pap (Botswana)
Ingredients
- 1 cup white cornmeal
- 1 quart beef broth
Instructions
- Bring the beef broth to a boil in a large pot.
- Once the broth is boiling, use a whisk to stir in cornmeal slowly.
- Let simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until it thickens. You may need to transition to a wooden spoon as the pap continues to thicken.
- Make sure to serve immediately, because the pap will thicken as it cools.
- Leave a review telling me how your pap-making went!
Jacqueline says
So fun learning this history!
K says
Hi there! This looks delicious,but I think you’re mistaken about its popularity in Botswana. I’m from there. We usually cook it with just water, not beef broth. And the consistency is often a little stiffer, although that depends on which part of the country you’re from. Traditionally, its called phaletše (or phaleche) in Setswana (one of the predominant languages). Which part of country did you get this recipe from?
The Foreign Fork says
Hey! I am SO glad that you reached out. I normally try finding someone from the country to speak to when making recipes, but despite posting in facebook groups and asking online, couldn’t find anyone online from Botswana at the time 🙁 Because of that, I just emulated other recipes I found online, most of which call for a quart of beef broth!
I would much rather learn from someone local though, and would be happy to rework the recipe to make sure it actually represents your culture! If this calls for 1 cup cornmeal and 4 cups (a quart) of water, but it should be stiffer, do you think I should reduce to 2 cups? 3?
Open to any suggestions you have. Thanks so much.