Africa → Cape Verde → Santiago (Praia)
🥔 SIDE
Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal)
Coarsely ground dried corn simmered with onion, garlic, green pepper and bay leaf into a soft, savoury porridge, served beside fish, meat stews and fried moray.
Cape Verdean · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 30 min
~176 cal · 2g protein · 13g carbs · 14g fat · 2g fiber · 3g sugars · 3g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Xerém is corn ground coarse, in a mortar or a mill, and the dish cooked from it. Corn is the grain of Cape Verde, the base of cachupa and cuscus, and xerém is its everyday savoury form, a cousin of and grits. The name comes, through Portuguese, from an Arabic word for grain porridge, and Cape Verdeans in Portugal buy the ground corn ready-made in African shops under the same name.
The simple version is made on the stove in a quarter of an hour or so: onion, garlic and a little green pepper softened in olive oil, water and a bay leaf, and the ground corn stirred in and cooked until it is tender and thick. Some cooks finish it with a knob of butter.
Xerém is served alongside the main dish, with fried or grilled fish, with a stew of goat or chicken, or with moreia frita. For parties there is a richer xerém de festa, cooked with pork, beans and tomato.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1 cup (about 170 g) xerém (coarsely ground dried corn)Hard to find? 1 cup coarse polenta or stone-ground corn grits - very close; xerém is often a little coarser, so cook it a few minutes longer
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) water, plus a little hot water if needed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp salt, to taste
- 1 tbsp butter (optional), to finish
Instructions
- 1Rinse the xerém in a sieve and let it drain.
- 2Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and fry the onion, green pepper and garlic for about 5 minutes, until soft.
- 3Pour in the water, add the bay leaf and salt and bring it to the boil.
- 4Stir in the xerém in a steady stream, lower the heat and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes, until the corn is tender and the mixture is thick but still soft. Add a splash of hot water if it gets too stiff before the corn is cooked.✎ Chef’s noteStir right down to the bottom of the pot: coarse corn settles and catches easily.
- 5Take out the bay leaf, stir in the butter if using and taste for salt. Serve hot alongside fish or a stew.
Cape Verdean home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Santiago (Praia). Santiago is Cape Verde's largest island and home of cachupa, hominy corn and beans simmered for hours with whatever meat or fish is at hand, then fried again the next morning. Portuguese and West African lines meet over Atlantic tuna and grogue rum.
🗺️
Cape Verde. Cachupa is a hominy stew and it has a class system: cachupa rica with several meats and sausage, cachupa pobre with what there is. The best-known version is neither, but the leftovers refried the next morning as cachupa refogada with a fried egg on top, which is what most Cape Verdeans mean when they talk about it.
🌍
Africa. Africa's fifty-four nations hold cuisines as different as Morocco's slow-cooked tagines and South Africa's open-fire braai, yet shared threads run through them: ancient grains like millet, sorghum, and teff; stews thickened with groundnut, okra, or palm; and fiery condiments from Tunisian harissa to Ethiopian berbere. Staple starches, fufu, injera, ugali, couscous, anchor communal meals often eaten by hand from a shared dish, where hospitality is a point of honor.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Cape Verde
CachupaThe slow-simmered national stew of hominy corn, beans, and meats, endlessly reboiled and always improving.
Cuscuz DoceA steamed cornmeal cake, faintly sweet, eaten warm with butter, honey, or milk for breakfast.
Pudim de Leite (Milk Flan)A silky baked milk custard under a dark caramel, one of Cabo Verde's most popular desserts.
Browse all Cape Verde recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Cape Verde meal
PoncheDrink
Pudim de Leite (Milk Flan)Dessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal)?
Coarsely ground dried corn simmered with onion, garlic, green pepper and bay leaf into a soft, savoury porridge, served beside fish, meat stews and fried moray.
Where does Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) come from?
Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) is a Cape Verdean dish from Santiago (Praia), Cape Verde.
Can Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Xerém (Cape Verdean Coarse Cornmeal) take to make?
About 40 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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