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Moldovan corn hominy

Moldovan Mămăligă (Cornmeal Polenta)

A tasty, hearty dish for a family dinner. My relatives always treat me to this dish when I come to visit sunny Moldova. The recipe is called mămăligă, and it's made from finely ground cornmeal—and that's important. If you want to make mămăligă, buy the fine-ground kind, not the flour or the coarse grits usually used for corn porridge. It's also a good idea to have a cazan (heavy cast-iron pot) for this. Of course, you can make it in an ordinary saucepan, but then you'll miss out on the real flavor of Moldovan cooking. Better yet, make Moldovan mămăligă at a country house or in a village where there's a wood stove—though it works fine at home, too.

Maria Kruus

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Cornmeal

100

Water

300

Salt

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 10 % 2 g

Fats 0 % 0 g

Carbohydrates 90 % 19 g

83 kcal

GI: 0 / 0 / 100

Cooking method

Cooking time: 25 min

Step 1:

Step 1:
Step 2:

Dry the cornmeal
Step 3:

Bring the water to a boil
Step 4:

Add 1/3 of the cornmeal
Step 5:

Add the rest of the cornmeal and stir constantly until thickened
Step 6:

Step 6:

So let's begin. Dry the cornmeal on a baking sheet. Take your cazan and add water at a 3:1 ratio—three parts water to one part cornmeal. Set the water over the heat and wait for it to boil. Add a little salt to the water. Stir a third of the cornmeal into the boiling water and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the rest of the cornmeal and cook over low heat for 25 minutes, stirring constantly—use only a wooden spoon for stirring. After that, leave the mămăligă to steam over the heat until done. I ate my mămăligă with brynza cheese and fish. You can also serve it with sour cream, meat, or salt pork. Bon appétit!