Chef Siba Mtongana and specialist brewer Constance Nkuna share their love for homemade beverages.
Mix half the mtombo with the maize meal in a bowl. Add 2 litres of boiling water and stir until you have a smooth paste.Pour 4 litres of the remaining water into a large pot. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and work in the soured mixture, stirring constantly.Continue cooking the mixture for 1 hour, until thick. Remove from heat and set aside to cool, then transfer into a large plastic bucket.
Add 6 litres of the remaining cold water and mix in the remaining mtombo and the brown sugar. Cover with a lid and set aside for between 2 and 3 days to ferment. Using your hand or a large wooden spoon, press the beer mixture through a very fine sieve to achieve a smooth liquid.If you don’t have a sieve, use a double layer of muslin. “Making ginger beer was a norm in most households during my childhood summers,” says Mtongana. “As kids visiting distant family members, we could count on being served it along with what I call township scones, which are something between the English scone and a muffin,” she says.
“Each family has their own ginger-beer recipe and swears theirs is the best. Well, I am no different, thanks to this special recipe I was given by [my husband] Brian’s grandmother, MaKhumalo. I have tweaked it a little by adding fresh ginger for a stronger flavour and some yeast to speed up the fermentation process and produce a bubbling effect.”