Local Dishes

1. Umngqusho

   Umngqusho (samp cooked with beans)

   Usage

   The staple dish of the Eastern Cape. Dried maize is pounded in a mortar (isingqusho) to remove the husk, then simmered for hours until soft. There are several versions: with beans (iimbotyi), plain white, with peas, or served with amasi. It is eaten mostly in winter

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-, plural imingqusho). ngq is a nasalised voiced palatal click — not the English g or q sound

2. Umphokoqo

   Umphokoqo (dry crumbly maize-meal pap)

   Usage

   Maize meal (umgubo wombona) and salt stirred into boiling water and cooked until it breaks into dry crumbs. It is normally served with amasi, though some take it with tea or water. It is eaten mostly in summer

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). ph is an aspirated p, distinct from f

3. Umvubo

   Umvubo (crumbly pap mixed with soured milk)

   Usage

   Umphokoqo mixed with amasi (soured milk). The name refers to the mixture itself, so umvubo on a menu always contains dairy. Ask for plain umphokoqo if you avoid milk

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). The root -vuba means "to mix", so the name states the method

4. Isidudu

   Isidudu (soft maize-meal porridge)

   Usage

   A loose porridge of ground maize meal, the standard breakfast. It is eaten with sugar and milk, or with vinegar, butter or peanut butter and sugar, depending on personal taste

   Grammar Note

   Class 7 noun (isi-/izi-, plural izidudu). Class 7 takes the si- concord

5. Umqa

   Umqa (firm maize pap mashed with pumpkin)

   Usage

   Pumpkin (ithanga) boiled, mashed and stiffened with maize meal. What is called isidudu on the Eastern Cape coast is umqa in isiXhosa

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). q is a palatal click, like a cork popping — nothing to do with the English q

6. Umxhaxha

   Umxhaxha (sweet boiled maize and melon)

   Usage

   Maize kernels and melon (intyabontyi) boiled separately, then combined and sweetened. It is close to a dessert, best eaten cold

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). xh is an aspirated lateral click, unrelated to English x or sh

7. Umleqwa

   Umleqwa (free-range chicken)

   Usage

   The firm meat of a free-range chicken. It is cooked without spices. It is chewier than battery chicken and takes far longer to cook

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). q is a palatal click

8. Isonka sombhako

   Isonka sombhako (bread baked in the hearth)

   Usage

   Bread baked at the hearth (eziko) — typically in a covered pot set into the coals

   Grammar Note

   isonka is a class 7 noun (isi-/izi-, plural izonka). The class 7 possessive sa- merges with umbhako by vowel coalescence to give so-, hence sombhako

9. Umkhupha

   Umkhupha (steamed bread)

   Usage

   A risen loaf cooked by steaming; South African English menus usually print it as "steamed bread". It is eaten soaked in the gravy of a stew

   Grammar Note

   Class 3 noun (um-/imi-, plural imikhupha). kh is an aspirated k, distinct from plain k

10. Umthwane

    Umthwane (pumpkin and bean stew)

    Usage

    Pumpkin and beans stewed together. It contains no meat, which makes it a useful word if you are avoiding meat

    Grammar Note

    Class 3 noun (um-/imi-, plural imithwane). th is an aspirated t, not the English th sound

11. Umqwayito

    Umqwayito (dried meat)

    Usage

    Salted and air-dried meat, close to what South African English calls biltong. It is chewed as it is, or rehydrated in a stew

    Grammar Note

    Class 3 noun (um-/imi-). q is a palatal click, here followed by w

12. Inkobe

    Inkobe (boiled whole maize kernels)

    Usage

    Dried maize kernels boiled whole — not pounded — with salt and a little oil. It is a winter food eaten after the harvest, valued because it keeps hunger away for a long time

    Grammar Note

    A class 10 plural noun taking the zi- concord (Inkobe zityiwa ebusika = inkobe is eaten in winter)

13. Isigwampa

    Isigwampa (greens thickened with maize meal)

    Usage

    Greens (imifino) boiled and then thickened by stirring in maize meal, in place of the pumpkin used for umqa. It is everyday food on the Eastern Cape coast

    Grammar Note

    Class 7 noun (isi-/izi-), taking the si- concord

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