Maize meal is a versatile ingredient that can be used to create a variety of dishes beyond porridge, including pap, soft porridge, crumbled maize-meal porridge (uphuthu), or mealie meal bread.
Some say they have not eaten unless they have had maize meal, which is known as nshima in Zambia, nsima in Malawi, sadza in Zimbabwe, papa or pap in South Africa and Lesotho, and ugali in Kenya.