Polenta – Romanian Mămăligă

Romania's version of polenta, made from yellow maize flour, it is better known to the rest of the world in its Italian form – polenta. Historically a peasant food, often used as a substitute for bread (made thick enough to slice), it evolved to be served in finest restaurants. Mămăliga is a fat-free, cholesterol-free, high-fiber food. It can be used as a healthy alternative to more refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pasta or hulled rice.

Ingredients:
1 qt. Water
1-2 cups cornmeal
2 tsp. salt

Method:

Boil water and salt in a pot. When water is boiling, gradually add corn meal while stirring the mixture with a whisk. Stop adding corn meal when the mixture is considerably thick, though still liquid. Continue to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, with caution since the mixture bubbles up and splatters hot polenta around. Remove from the heat and serve with your favorite dish.

Serving suggestions:
A very popular Romanian dish based on polenta is called “bulz”, and consists of balls of polenta (mămăligă) filled with cheese and butter and roasted in the oven. Mămăligă is often served with sour cream and cheese on the side (mămăliguţă cu brânză şi smântână) or crushed in a bowl of hot milk (mămăliguţă cu lapte). Various recipes of mămăligă-based dishes may include milk, butter, various types of cheese, eggs, sausages (usually fried, grilled or oven-roasted), bacon, mushrooms, ham, fish etc.

One elderly Romanian voiced anxieties about Romania's membership of the EU, telling a BBC correspondent: "We'll no longer be able to make our mamaliga, because we'll have to eat sliced bread wrapped in plastic with a food safety stamp on it!"

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