Mămăligă With Potatoes

*8-10 large potatoes, 1 bowl corn meal, salt.Peel and dice potatoes, then bring them to a boil in lightly salted water. When done, mash with a whisk and add the corn meal gradually, stirring continuously. Bring mixture to a boil and let simmer a bit, still stirring. When done, turn the finished product onto a plate. This mămăligă is eaten only with pan-fried pork, accompanied by a pitcher of red wine.Informant: Gheorghiţa Raicea, Drănic village, Dolj county, 1975
* Mămăligă (pronounced "muh-muh-LEE-guh") is one of the most widely and hugely consumed foods in Romania. It is made from corn meal, water and salt, boiled usually in very large pots, and has a consistency much harder than cornmeal mush, but more elastic than corn bread, and is served in large slices, like a heavy cake, usually then topped with various cheeses and sour cream. Often translated as "polenta," it loses much of its traditional character in translation, especially when the diminutive mămăliguţă is used.


by Georgeta Roşu