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Mămăligă (Romanian Corn Porridge)
Mămăligă is a cornmeal porridge eaten in Romania and Moldova, as well as parts of other countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, and Albania. After its introduction from America to Europe in the 1500s, corn began to replace other grains in porridge, particularly in regions near the Danube River where corn cultivation flourished. For centuries mămăligă was considered a humble comfort food, but its gourmet status has grown in recent decades.
In Romania, where mămăligă is considered the national dish, it is traditionally made in a cast iron pot (ceaun or cauldron), flipped out directly onto a wood table, and sliced with string or thread. It is often served with a pat of butter, sour cream, or cheeses such as telemea (similar to feta) or cascaval (similar to pecorino). Mămăligă is also a great accompaniment to a meat or vegetable dish. For example, here is a recipe for Moldovan guvech, which is like ratatouille, served over mămăligă. Truly this porridge is so delicious and versatile that it may become a favorite in your meal planning.
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The cook time for mămăligă varies depending on how much you’re making and your pan size, but 15-20 minutes works well for getting a nice texture with 1-2 cups corn flour in a two-to-three quart pan. The video below shows the porridge consistency after about 5 minutes and when it is finished cooking.
You can make mămăligă with any variety of corn, though yellow is the traditional color. The unique and pretty porridge in the photo below was made with bloody butcher red corn.
A coarse cornmeal will take longer to soften as it cooks, and a very fine corn flour will be silkier and cook faster. If you’re home-milling corn for this recipe, give it one pass through the mill at a coarse setting and a second pass at fine setting, a half-tick back from stones knocking. See the Photo Gallery after the recipe for pics of these milling steps. You can also make mămăligă with nixtamalized corn flour, also known as masa harina, but it will need more water.
Mămăligă (Romanian Corn Porridge)
Mămăligă is a simple and delicious corn porridge that can be made to slice into cubes and is cooked on the stove. It's the national dish of Romania and also enjoyed in Moldova and many other countries in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. Similar to polenta, mămăligă showcases the flavor of the corn, and it can be a side dish or the main attraction.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
I used a stainless steel saute pan and found relatively little mămăligă remained in the pan after flipping it out. If you do have some porridge stuck in the pan, you can "deglaze" it with some milk, making an extra porridge snack.
Photo Gallery
Shopping List
Mockmill 100 Grain Mill
Bloody Butcher Corn
$8.50 – $57.75Yellow Dent Corn
Magnetic Measuring Spoons
$17.00Stainless Steel Measuring Cup Set (4 pc)
$22.00$14.95Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls — Set of 3
$39.99Mămăligă (Romanian Corn Porridge)