• Xoliswa Ndoyiya started cooking for Nelson Mandela two years after his 1990 release from prison, and has been his personal chef ever since. She is the author of a new cookbook that features his favorite recipes called, Ukutya Kwasekhaya--"Home Food."

• Xoliswa Ndoyiya interview on SABC
• ABC News on Mandela?s Chef
• BBC report on Xoliswa Ndoyiya?s new cookbook

Oxtail
Close friend and comrade, Ahmed Kathrada says:
From the first time I had her oxtail, every time I was invited to lunch there I was just wishing it would be oxtail and nothing else.

• 3kg oxtail, excess fat removed
• 5ml (1 tsp) paprika
• 15ml (1 tbsp) barbecue spice
• 5 large carrots (about 350g) peeled and sliced
• 250g green beans, sliced
• 4 medium potatoes (about 800g), peeled and quartered
• 60g (1 packet) oxtail soup powder
• salt and white pepper, to taste

Put the oxtail in a large pot and add just enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook until the water has evaporated. The meat will start to brown in its own fat. Add the paprika and barbeque spice together with enough water to cover the oxtail. Cover with a lid and cook over a low heat until the oxtail is tender, about 2 hours. Keep checking that there is still enough liquid to cover the meat, adding more water when necessary. Add the carrots, beans, potatoes and soup powder and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. Season and serve.

Sweet Chicken
Nandi Mandela, Nelson Mandela?s granddaughter, says:
If you want to see a Mandela move fast, wait for the sweet chicken to be ready. Xoliswa puts it on the table and we all look at each other. We have to wait for the elders to go first and then we move in. If you aren?t quick it?s all gone. It?s definitely a competition!

Serves 4 ? 6

• 5ml (1 tsp) paprika
• 2,5ml (?? tsp) white pepper
• 10ml (2 tsp) mixed spice for chicken
• 1 whole chicken (about 1,25kg), cut into 8 pieces
• 325ml (1,5 cups) sweet fruit chutney
• 250ml (1 cup) mayonnaise
• 30ml (2 tbsp) medium curry powder
• 250ml (1 cup) water

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Combine the paprika, pepper and chicken spice and rub the chicken pieces all over with this mixture. Place in an ovenproof dish and roast for 15 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking, combine the chutney, mayonnaise, curry powder and water and mix well to form a sauce. Remove the chicken from the oven and cover it with the sauce.
Lower the oven temperature to 160°C and roast the chicken until golden brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.
Serve with rice, garnished with a sprig of fresh flat-leaf parsley if desired.

Samp and Beans
In many Xhosa households, Wednesday is umngqusho day. It?s the way we all grew up. Like Fridays in the Eastern Cape are always dumplings with meat day. Even if it?s not a Wednesday, Tata gets sad if days go by and I haven?t cooked umngqusho. He will call me to come and ask ?Where?s umngqusho?? In this recipe I have used butter, but in rural communities people often use what Jewish families call schmaltz and we call amafutha enkuku (chicken fat left over from cooking) to add a richness at the end of the dish.

Serves 6-8

• 500g samp (crushed maize), well rinsed
• 800g dried sugar beans, well rinsed
• water, to cover
• 2 beef stock cubes
• salt and white pepper, to taste
• 45ml (3 tbsp) butter or amafutha enkuku

Place the samp and beans in a pot, cover with water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook until soft, at least 2 hours. Do not stir or it will become excessively starchy, but keep checking to see that the mixture is not sticking to the bottom of the pot and add water if necessary. After about 1 hour add the stock cubes. When the mixture is soft and cooked through, strain off the remaining water.
Season and stir in the butter.
Serve with boiled meat such as umleqwa.