Getting creative with leftover pap

We often hear it being said that in “Cyril’s economy” we can afford less and less. Groceries have become increasingly more expensive. I was left flabbergasted earlier this week after discovering that Maldon salt had gone up by R30 in the past few months. I wondered just how much I needed the Maldon salt effect and whether good old Himalayan salt would do. I erred of the side of austerity in this week’s grocery shopping decision. Choices were made and I flaked on the fancy salt.

Eating at home and experimenting in my own kitchen brings me ceaseless joy. I prefer a home-cooked meal most days. Yes, wonderful fine dining is delicious from time to time, but I am not a regular on the Uber Eats streets. I really prefer knowing where my food comes from, how it was cooked and where the ingredients are sourced. Also, how food waste is managed. In my home, I have full knowledge and control over most of these inputs and I get to not waste, which is important.

In a country like ours where so many people suffer from food poverty, I am ever more conscious on making sure I use everything I buy and make. Growing up in our homes, we always made more food than there were people in the house, in case someone dropped by there was a warm place of food. Remember the warmer drawer too at the bottom of those old stoves, oh I loved that thing, and would delicately place my dad’s supper in there, covered with another plate for him to eat when he returned from work.

As a child I dreamt of growing up and getting my food from the warmer drawer too when working. Little did I know that being a working adult would have me wanting to jump into the warmer drawer instead for comfort.

I have been craving nostalgic dishes lately, namely isidudu (mealie meal porridge) for breakfast with lashing of butter and some single origin Lowerland honey and a sparing sprinkle of Maldon salt. My scientist friend also espouses the benefits of honey of single origin, a discussion for another day.

Leftover porridge becomes stiff pap when stored in the fridge, so I needed ways to use it over the following days. The trash can was not an option. Throwing food out stresses me out and perhaps it’s part of growing up black, where moms and aunts made everything stretch across meals and kitchens. The bones from roasts go into soups that go into the samp pot.

I decided to waste not and made pap chips or wedges as it were. I once tasted polenta chips at a Portuguese restaurant many years ago and what is polenta but pap from Italy? I’m not a fan of eating leftovers, but I’m learning to repackage them to whet my own appetite. It makes one more creative in the kitchen too. The creativity that lies in using leftovers in different ways, making leftovers ingredients in their own right.

This was so delicious and fun to make — like playing with my food in a way.

Pap chips/wedges

Ingredients:

1. Leftover pap from the fridge
2. Olive oil
3. Baking sheet
4. A pinch of salt

Method:

• Preheat the oven on the grill setting at 200°C
• Cut the cold pap into index finger sized pieces
• Rub the pap pieces with oil all over and sprinkle with sale
• Place on baking paper on a baking sheet, well-spaced between each piece of pap
• Place in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning the pieces over every five minutes to make they’re golden and crispy on all sides

I made a tomato and onion chutney and happily dipped my golden pap chips into it when serving it alongside my Wagyu boerewors. That deserves its own column. I sautéed spinach with garlic and nutmeg as well. I loved seeing this dish, pap, wors and sauce with spinach, but with a little bit of a twist. This presents so well on a plate too; it elevates eating leftovers that tiny bit more.