Romania's golden cornmeal porridge, stiff enough to slice, enriched with butter and served with soured cream and salty cheese.
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Photo: Victor (comradevik), Public domain
Mămăligă stands in for bread on Romanian country tables. It is traditionally cut not with a knife but with a stretched thread, which gives a clean slice without smearing it.
Rain it in very slowly with one hand while the other whisks without stopping, into water at a full boil. Tipped in at once, it forms clumps a whisk can no longer break up. A tall pan helps, as the mixture bubbles and spits.
It pulls away from the sides of the pan as one mass and clearly resists the wooden spoon. If it is still soft after twenty-five minutes, give it a few more over very low heat, scraping the base regularly.
A blade squashes the dense mass and leaves a misshapen slice, while a taut kitchen thread passes cleanly through. That is the traditional method on Romanian tables. The five-minute covered rest before turning it out is what makes cutting possible at all.
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