Mămăligă cu brânză
Mămăligă cu brânză și smântână
Romanian polenta turned out firm, served with crumbled salty sheep's cheese and a lot of sour cream.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Mămăligă cu brânză și smântână.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 40 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Mămăligă is Romanian polenta, cooked thicker than the Italian kind so it can be turned out of the pot in a dome and cut with a thread. Served cu brânză și smântână it comes with crumbled salty white cheese and a heavy spoon of sour cream, and often a fried egg. This version uses feta as the nearest widely sold cheese to Romanian telemea. The cornmeal is stirred steadily for half an hour until it pulls away from the pot. It is plain food and depends on getting the salt right and not rushing the cooking. Undercooked mămăligă tastes raw and gritty.
What you'll need
7 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Bring the water and salt to a boil in a heavy pan. Rain in the cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking constantly so it does not clump.
5 min
Step 2
Lower the heat to a slow blip and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon every minute or two, for 25 to 30 minutes. It will spit; keep a lid half on.
30 min
Watch: Hot polenta burns skin badly. Stir with a long spoon.
Step 3
It is done when it pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and a spoon stands up in it. Beat in the butter.
2 min
Step 4
Wet a board or plate, turn the pot upside down onto it and lift it off so the mămăligă stands in a dome. Let it set 5 minutes. Fry the eggs if using.
5 min
Tip: Romanians cut it with a taut length of cotton thread, not a knife. A knife works.
Step 5
Cut into thick slices. Top each with crumbled cheese, a large spoon of sour cream and a fried egg. Eat hot.
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 522 kcal
- Protein
- 20.6 g
- Carbs
- 15.9 g
- Fat
- 41.5 g
- Saturated fat
- 24.2 g
- Fibre
- 1.1 g
- Sugar
- 7.7 g
- Sodium
- 2095 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Feta → Mature salted ricotta or crumbly goat's cheese
Anything salty, white and crumbly does the job.
Tips
- Coarse cornmeal takes longer and tastes better than fine. Instant polenta gives a pasty result.
- Leftover mămăligă sets solid. Slice and fry it in butter for breakfast.
- Bulz is the next step: a ball of mămăligă stuffed with cheese and baked until the cheese runs.
History & culture
The daily bread of rural Romania for three centuries and still on tables every week, beside sarmale, stews, fried fish or just cheese and cream. Shepherds cook it over fires in the Carpathians and eat it with their own cheese. City restaurants now serve it as heritage food in small clay pots.
Maize reached Romania from the Americas via Ottoman trade in the 17th century and replaced millet porridge because the Ottomans did not tax it. Mămăligă kept peasants alive through centuries of poor harvests and bad landlords and carries the memory of that.
Traditional — Romanian telemea or brânză de burduf is the proper cheese. Feta is the closest thing most shops sell; a Bulgarian sirene is closer still.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Mămăligă cu brânză take?
40 min all in — 5 min prep, 35 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Nut-free.
8 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Frying pan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1½ tsp.
What can I use instead?
Feta → Mature salted ricotta or crumbly goat's cheese. Anything salty, white and crumbly does the job.
What should I watch for?
Hot polenta burns skin badly. Stir with a long spoon.
Any tips from this recipe?
Coarse cornmeal takes longer and tastes better than fine. Instant polenta gives a pasty result. Leftover mămăligă sets solid. Slice and fry it in butter for breakfast. Bulz is the next step: a ball of mămăligă stuffed with cheese and baked until the cheese runs.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Leftover mămăligă sets solid. Slice and fry it in butter for breakfast.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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