Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kačamak
Whipped cornmeal-and-potato mash beaten with young cheese and clotted kaymak until glossy and rich.
Montenegrin · medium · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 40 min
~678 cal · 23g protein · 52g carbs · 43g fat · 5g fiber · 6g sugars · 26g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
In the black mountains that give Montenegro its name, kacamak is highland survival food raised into something close to a delicacy. Cornmeal and potato are boiled together, then beaten hard, and it is that beating, long and vigorous, that transforms it: worked with fresh cheese and kaymak, the rich clotted cream, until the mixture turns glossy and elastic and pulls into ribbons.
It is shepherd's food from the old royal capital of Cetinje and the rugged interior, born of a place where little grew and every calorie counted. Plain ingredients, cornmeal, potato, cheese, and cream, become rich and satisfying through technique and muscle alone.
It is eaten hot, straight from the pot with a spoon, often with a bowl of soured milk alongside to cut the richness. Stretchy, buttery, and unapologetically heavy, kacamak is exactly the food the cold Montenegrin highlands ask for, and a point of real regional pride.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup coarse cornmeal
1 cup young cheese
1/2 cup kaymak (clotted cream)
Hard to find? mascarpone with a spoonful of sour cream stirred through - rich in the same way, without the faint tang kaymak picks up as it sets
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp salt
a bowl sour milk (kiselo mlijeko), to serve
Instructions
1
Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft, keeping the water.
2
Rain the cornmeal into the pot with the potatoes and their water and cook 20 minutes, stirring, until very thick.
3
Mash the potatoes into the cornmeal, then beat in the cheese and kaymak (or plant versions) with a wooden spoon.
4
Keep beating over low heat until the mixture turns glossy and stretchy.
5
Pour the melted butter (or oil) over the top and serve straight from the pan, with a bowl of cold sour milk alongside.
Cetinje highland tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Cetinje. Cetinje is Montenegro's old royal capital beneath the black mountains, known for Njegusi ham air-dried in the surrounding villages and served with hard cheese. Lamb cooked under the bell-shaped sac, kajmak, and Adriatic fish round out the table.
🗺️
Montenegro. Kacamak is the mountain dish, cornmeal or a mix of corn and potato beaten with young cheese and kajmak until it turns glossy and pulls away from the pot. It is cooked under a sac, the bell-shaped lid buried in embers that Croatia calls a peka and Kosovo uses for flija, which is the tool the whole region shares.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Montenegro
PriganiceSmall, airy fried dough puffs served with honey, cheese, and jam, a Montenegrin breakfast treat.
Punjene PaprikeBell peppers stuffed with spiced rice and meat, braised in tomato sauce, a comforting Montenegrin household staple.
RožataA silky caramel custard scented with rose liqueur, the classic celebration dessert of the Montenegrin coast.
Browse all Montenegro recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Montenegro meal
RožataDessert
Punjene PaprikeLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Mămăligă cu BrânzăMoldova
Likhobe (Sorghum and Bean Grain Stew)Lesotho
OshifimaNamibia
Mămăligă cu Brânză și SmântânăRomania
Chakalaka & PapSouth Africa
WalwalSouth Sudan
Cuisine
Diet
Vegetarian Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Pork-Free Recipes from Around the World
Vegetarian Dinners from Around the World
Gluten-Free Dinners from Around the World
Nut-Free Dinners from Around the World
Egg-Free Dinners from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Kačamak?
Whipped cornmeal-and-potato mash beaten with young cheese and clotted kaymak until glossy and rich.
Where does Kačamak come from?
Kačamak is a Montenegrin dish from Cetinje, Montenegro.
Can Kačamak be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kačamak recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kačamak safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kačamak take to make?
About 50 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.