This delicious sun-coloured fruit is known in other parts of the world as papaya. For some reason in South Africa we call it pawpaw.

½ cup mielie-meal*
½ cup water
¼ cup milk
1 TBS butter
pinch salt
drizzle of honey
¼ cup chopped and peeled pawpaw
2 TBS sunflower seeds
cinnamon
*use rolled oats if mielie-meal is unavailable

Place mielie-meal (or raw oats) in a pot, add water and bring to the boil.
Allow to simmer for about 10/15min and add the butter, milk and salt.
Once cooked, spoon into a teacup and add the pawpaw.
Drizzle with some honey, scatter over the seeds, a dash of cinnamon and enjoy!

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I have just been on an incredible family holiday in the dragon mountains and sugar cane-fields of KwaZulu-Natal and in the mother of all cities, known as Cape Town. While in the Drakensburg (known to locals as the dragon mountains) I felt like Maria from the Sound of Music as I ran through green fields and danced with grazing cows, looking for inspiration for my next episode of Ceire’s Kitchen.

I wandered through outdoor markets in the nearby town, spoke to stall holders in broken Zulu, but it was when I saw Tuusa mowing the lawn on a little tractor that an idea struck! Tuusa is the big African mama who maintains the gardens and house on the farm where we were staying. The comical image of her grinning and whizzing around the edges of flower beds on a tractor, while the dogs excitedly chased and barked after her, reminded me of one my favourite breakfasts from when I was younger… Pawpaw porridge. Mielie-meal porridge is a staple diet of many South Africans and I added my own touch by adding fruit, cinnamon and seeds… And eating it out of a bone chine tea-cup. Just because I like it!