Nelson Mandela's personal chef Xoliswa Ndoyiya collects leader's fave recipes in new book, 'Ukutya Kwasekhaya'

DEBBIE YAZBEK

Nelson Mandela with his personal chef Xoliswa Ndoyiya, who has authored a cookbook called “Ukutya Kwasekhaya: Tastes From Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen” with Anna Trapido.

DEBBIE YAZBEK

Dish of oxtail, a recipe from “Ukutya Kwasekhaya” by Xoliswa Ndoyiya

Even Nelson Mandela has a sweet tooth.

At 94, South Africa’s most famous head of state still likes to indulge in dessert.

“He’ll be discouraging the children, saying fruit should be the only thing that you can eat,” says his longtime personal chef Xoliswa (pronounced Ko-lees-wah) Ndoyiya.

But serve Malva pudding — a baked treat topped with ice cream or custard — or strawberry trifle and the former political powerhouse “just eats it up.”

Ndoyiya, a Queenstown native, has been cooking for Mandela since 1992. Her job interview consisted of just one question: “Can you cook our home food?”

Well-versed in making traditional South African fare, Ndoyiya was hired immediately.

“Ukutya Kwasekhaya,” or home food in their shared first language of Xhosa, became the title of Ndoyiya’s debut cookbook, a collection of Mandela’s favorite recipes.

Despite his status as a globe-trotting statesmen, Mandela has always craved the flavors he grew up with. Featured recipes include umphokoqo, a porridge made of maize meal and sour milk, and sweet chicken — a beloved dish that turns dinner into a “competition,” writes granddaughter Nandi Mandela.

“Up to this day, Mr. Mandela has been eating the food he usually ate when he was still a young boy,” says Ndoyiya. “It reminds him of his own mother, who used to cook that.”

That might be true, but it’s obvious that Mandela is also quite fond of Ndoyiya herself. When he was frequently traveling as South Africa’s president, Mandela would miss her cooking so much he once had her umphokoqo shipped to London. Under his employ, the chef has also made dinner for guests including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton, who came into the kitchen to say thank you.

As he ages, Mandela has gotten more health-conscious, but since many of his favorite meals are simply prepared, he’s still able to eat the foods he enjoys most.

“The only thing he doesn’t want to see on his plate is oil,” Ndoyiya says.

Ndoyiya put together “Ukutya Kwasekhaya” with help from Anna Trapido, a writer who chronicled Mandela’s life from a culinary standpoint in a biography called “Hunger for Freedom.”

Over a recent lunch in midtown, Trapido and Ndoyiya, both in New York City for the first time, spoke about the importance of food to Mandela.

“There are lots of very good biographies about Mandela, but almost all of them are written by men and all of them are very straight political biographies,” says Trapido. “They’re not looking at the personal and intimate.”

In addition to interviewing Mandela’s fellow Robben Island inmates, Trapido also looked into milestones like Mandela’s first date and his marriage to Winnie Mandela.

“At every stage, I found the key actors and then I got them to describe the culinary context in which the epic political events were happening,” says Trapido. “I would interview these important political figures [who] would tell me about these epic events in the struggle against apartheid and then I would say, ‘What did you have for lunch?’”

She recalls a conversation with Mandela about a dinner gone wrong with his teenage crush. Just 14 at the time, Mandela ate with her family, but had trouble using a knife and fork, causing a chicken wing to fly off his plate.

“When he talked about it, and he was 90 at the time, he still told that story with such intensity that the embarrassment of the moment hadn’t left him.”

It’s stories like those, Trapido points out, that remind us of Mandela’s humanity.

“It’s well-meaning, but there’s a tendency to deify him, but this is a real person who changed the world for the better,” she says.

Food also makes it easier to relate to political figures like Mandela.

“Food is a very interesting communication tool,” says Trapido. “Nothing says ‘I love you’ quite like food. By the same token, nothing says ‘I hate you’ quite as powerfully as nasty meals.”

For Ndoyiya, cooking is a way to give back to a man who did so much for her country.

“I know everyone would love to be with him and serve him and cook for him,” she says. “I’m there and I’m doing it not only for me, but for everyone who has love for him.”

plee@nydailynews.com

Recipe: SWEET CHICKEN

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons mixed spice for chicken
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 cups sweet fruit chutney
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons medium curry powder
1 cup water

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350.
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 320 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.
-Recipes excerpted from “Ukutya Kwasekhaya - Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen” by Xoliswa Ndoyiya with Anna Trapido (Real African Publishers), available on Amazon.

Recipe: STRAWBERRY TRIFLE

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

When he turned 80, Mandela started to like ice cream and custard. Before he used to say to the children, “I don’t eat much dessert, mainly fruit.” But now when I serve it to the kids he will say, “Can I taste that?” as if he just wants to check it, but you find that a “taste” means eating the whole thing!
Serves 6 - 8
1 packet strawberry gelatin (such as Jell-O)
1 packet vanilla instant pudding
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 vanilla Swiss roll, sliced
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
1 pound strawberries, leaves removed

Instructions

Make the gelatin according to the packet instructions and set aside in the fridge.
Combine the instant pudding, sour cream, milk and orange zest. Beat until the mixture thickens.
Set aside in the fridge.
Once the gelatin and pudding are both almost set, start to assemble the trifle:
In a large bowl or individual bowls, alternate layers of Swiss roll, pudding mixture and gelatin, ending with a layer of the pudding mixture.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Top with the whipped cream, arrange the strawberries on top and serve.

Recipe: OXTAIL

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

Ndoyiya’s 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."
Serves 8-10
6 1/2 pounds oxtail, excess fat removed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon barbecue spice
5 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 pound green beans, sliced
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 packet oxtail soup powder
Salt and white pepper, to taste

Instructions

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 barbecue spice together with enough water to cover the oxtail. Cover with a lid and cook over 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.