Ingredients
The mealies
- 6 earsgreen maize
- husks removed
- silk pulled off
- young rather than dried
The fire
- charcoal or wood coals
- a wire rack
- or laid on the coals
Sometimes used
- salt
- a little water, to brush
- nothing at all
To serve
- hot from the coals
- eaten from the cob
- at a roadside stand
Directions
- Salt is added by some and not others. Charcoal fires burn genuinely very hot. Keep them well away from anything flammable. Keep water or sand close to hand. Never leave a lit fire unattended.
- Pull all the husks off each cob. Peel them back and snap them off. Rub the cob to remove the last silk. Check between the rows of kernels.
- Cut away any mouldy or dark patches. Cut it out rather than roasting it. Wait until they glow under grey ash. That is what the method needs.
- Set the rack close above the coals. Too far and it dries without charring. Lay the cobs on the wire rack. Turn them constantly from the start.
- Turn them every thirty seconds or so. Cooking them takes about fifteen minutes. Stand slightly back as they pop. Judging them takes a careful look. Press a kernel with a fingernail. It should be soft rather than hard.
- Sprinkle salt over the hot cob. Some vendors salt them and some do not. Salt sticks better while they are hot.
- Brush them with water first if needed. Serving them is always done hot. Serve them straight from the fire. The kernels go chewy and quite dry. Hold them all by the stalk end. Let them cool a moment before biting. They are eaten hot from the hand.
Technique
- Charcoal produces carbon monoxide, which is odourless and genuinely lethal — people die from this every year when charcoal is brought indoors or burnt in tents and garages. Burn it outdoors only, never in an enclosed space, keep it away from anything flammable and never leave it unattended.
- Turn the cobs every thirty seconds or so, which is the whole technique: that gives even charring where leaving them still burns one side. Wait for embers glowing under grey ash rather than flames, which blacken the maize instantly, and set the rack about ten centimetres above them since maize wants direct heat.
- Pull off every strand of silk, checking down between the rows of kernels, since it burns instantly on the coals and tastes unpleasant. Cut away any mouldy patches or insect damage, which is common in green maize, rather than roasting it — the rest of the cob is fine.
Substitutions
- Wood coals are used as much as charcoal, giving the same steady heat with a different smoke; some cooks lay the cobs directly on the coals for very heavy charring, which needs constant turning and is genuinely done.
- Often nothing at all is added — no oil, no salt, no seasoning — and that plainness is genuinely traditional, since fresh maize is sweet on its own and the char provides the seasoning. Salt sticks better while the cob is hot.
Variations
- Green maize means fresh young maize picked before it dries on the stalk, with soft moist kernels, which is what suits roasting; mature maize is left to dry and ground into the meal that makes the staple porridge, and the two uses are quite separate.
- Roasted green maize is chewy and firmer than boiled sweetcorn, which is entirely characteristic rather than a fault. Aim for charred black patches on deep golden kernels — uniformly black is simply overdone.
- Mealies is the southern African word for maize, covering both cob and grain, and comes from the Portuguese milho — a documented word history. The atlas also carries Liberian roasted corn, essentially the same practice recorded in its own local setting.
History
Green maize roasted over coals and sold at roadsides in the harvest months, eaten straight from the cob.
Frequently asked questions
What is Roasted mealies?
Roasted mealies is a street food from Eswatini: corn cobs roasted over coals at roadside stands. Green maize roasted over coals and sold at roadsides in the harvest months, eaten straight from the cob.
How long does Roasted mealies take to make?
Roasted mealies takes 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Roasted mealies?
Yes, within limits. Wood coals are used as much as charcoal, giving the same steady heat with a different smoke; some cooks lay the cobs directly on the coals for very heavy charring, which needs constant turning and is genuinely done. Often nothing at all is added — no oil, no salt, no seasoning — and that plainness is genuinely traditional, since fresh maize is sweet on its own and the char provides the seasoning. Salt sticks better while the cob is hot.
What is the most important thing to get right in Roasted mealies?
Salt is added by some and not others. Charcoal fires burn genuinely very hot. Keep them well away from anything flammable. Keep water or sand close to hand. Never leave a lit fire unattended.
