Moldovan Style Polenta

Ingredients

• •1 qt. water
• •1-2 cups corn meal
• •2 tsp. salt.

Directions

1. 1Boil 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.
2. 2Remove from the heat and serve hot with your favorite dish.
3. 3Mamaliga is a dish made out of yellow maize, and is traditional to Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine. It is better known to the rest of the world in its Italian form--polenta .
4. 4Historically a peasant food, it was often used as a substitute for bread or even as a staple food in the poor rural areas. However, in the last decades it has emerged as an upscale dish available in the finest restaurants.
5. 5Traditionally, mamaliga is cooked by boiling water, salt, and cornmeal in a special-shaped cast iron pot called a ceaun . When cooked peasant-style and used as a bread substitute, mamaliga is supposed to be much thicker than the regular Italian polenta to the point that it can be cut in slices, like bread. When cooked for other purposes, mamaliga can be much softer, sometimes almost to the consistency of porridge. Because mamaliga sticks to metal surfaces, it can be cut with a string into slices, and is eaten by holding it with the hand, just like bread would be.
6. 6Mamaliga is often served with sour cream and cheese on the side ( mamaliga cu branza si smantana ) or crushed in a bowl of hot milk ( mamaliga cu lapte ). Sometimes slices of mamaliga are pan-fried in oil or in lard, the result being a sort of corn pone.
7. 7Since mamaliga can be used as an alternate for bread in many Moldovan dishes, there are quite a few which are either based on mamaliga, or include it as an ingredient or side dish.