Ask Romanians what they consider to be their national dish and 99 out of a 100 would say mămăligă. Pronounced mer-mer-li-ger with the emphasis on the third syllable, it is a polenta usually made from maize flour. Delicious on its own or with smântană (soured cream), eggs, cheese, mushrooms, meat, fish and salad, mămăligă is said to promote health and longevity.
There are different varieties and names for mămăligă depending on how and where it is made. For special celebrations, there is the extra rich balmoş (bal-mosh) which is made with polenta, smântană and milk. Sometimes (as above at a party organised by the Astra Film Festival for Shepherds and film-makers in Sibiel, late October 2007) people roll the balmoş into little balls which have smântană inside.
Other names for mămăligă include coleşă and tocană but here is a recipe for Bulz de la Rucăr (Bulz from Rucăr) sent in by the archaeologist, Ioana Bogdan Cataniciu (with my English translation below):
Se face o mămăligă consistentă; se intinde ierbinte cu o lingură pe un fund de lemn şi se unge cu unt, apoi se pun la mijloc, câteva linguri de brânza de oi (ţinuta in coajă de brad, pentru a avea un gust mai bun). Se acopera brânza cu mămăligă şi se formeaza o sfera fierbinte pe care o serveşti câte una iecarui mesean, pe un ştergar frumos cusut (şi foarte curat....)
To make a thick mămăligă pour it into boiling water stirring with a wooden spoon, and mix in some butter. Then add some spoonsful of sheep’s curd cheese (which has been wrapped in pine bark to make it tastier). Cover the cheese with the mămăligă so that you’ve got a boiling ball of polenta with cheese inside. Serve it to each guest on a beautifully embroidered (and very clean) ştergar (a long, narrow cotton or hemp cloth used for decorating icons).
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