Romanian recipe
How to make Mămăligă (maize porridge)
mămăligă
All over Romania and Moldova
A thick porridge of yellow maize flour, much like Italian polenta. It is eaten as a side dish instead of bread, or as a meal of its own with salty sheep cheese and sour cream.
Ingredients
- 1.2 litres water and 1 teaspoon salt
- 250 g coarse yellow cornmeal (polenta)
- 30 g butter
- 200 g telemea or feta cheese, crumbled
- 200 ml sour cream
Method
- Bring the salted water to the boil in a heavy pot.
- Pour in the cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking all the time so no lumps form.
- Turn the heat down low and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until it is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pot.
- Stir in the butter, then turn the mămăligă out onto a board or spoon it onto plates.
- Top with the crumbled cheese and a spoonful of sour cream and serve at once.
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Maize reached Europe from the Americas in the 16th century, and Romanian farmers were growing it by the 17th century. Before that, mămăligă was made from millet.
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