The cornbread in Zambia is much like the cornbread in the USA – except it is made with fresh corn kernels instead of cornmeal. This makes the flavor come alive. Zambians call it mealie bread (mealie is just another name for corn; mealie bread is popular all over southern Africa). The result is moist (bordering on juicy), naturally sweet, and great on the side of any autumn stew (such as Zambia’s Spiced Tilapian Stew). If you’re lucky enough to slice into the mealie bread while it’s still hot? Well… forget about having leftovers.
If you don’t have time to thaw the corn overnight in the fridge, feel free to thaw it on the stovetop over medium heat for a few minutes.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 1 8×8 pan | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time |
| 45-50 minutes |
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The cornbread in Zambia is much like the cornbread in the USA – except it is made with fresh corn kernels instead of cornmeal. This makes the flavor come alive. Zambians call it mealie bread (mealie is just another name for corn; mealie bread is popular all over southern Africa). The result is moist (bordering on juicy), naturally sweet, and great on the side of any autumn stew (such as Zambia’s Spiced Tilapian Stew). If you’re lucky enough to slice into the mealie bread while it’s still hot? Well… forget about having leftovers.
If you don’t have time to thaw the corn overnight in the fridge, feel free to thaw it on the stovetop over medium heat for a few minutes.
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Ingredients
- 1 lb corn , (frozen) thawed overnight in the refrigerator
- 4 eggs
- 4 Tbsp butter , melted
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Poblano pepper , blackened and chopped (1/4 cup or so)
Servings: 8×8 pan
Units:
Instructions
- First, things first: blacken a poblano pepper over gas flame, or in a steel pan, or on the grill. You want the pepper to be black almost all over. Set aside to cool,then peel and dice it (leave seeds out to make a mild mealie bread). If you’d like spicier mealie bread, use jalepenos.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Set aside 1 cup of corn, then, in a blender, pulse together the remaining corn, eggs and melted butter.
- Add in the last cup of corn and pulse briefly to combine (this will give you pieces of whole corn in your corn bread – yum! Be sure not to pulse it much, or you might end up with too much moister in your batter)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Then, stir in the corn mixture from the blender as well as the diced poblano.
- Spread in a greased 8×8 baking dish and bake for 45-50 minutes. Try to wait a few minutes to cut into it.