~878 cal · 30g protein · 60g carbs · 60g fat (estimated, per serving)
🍽️
Polenta layered with white cheese and sour cream in a rustic bowl
🇷🇴 Transylvania
Mămăligă was long Romania’s daily bread — cut with a string, never a knife, at shepherd camps in the Carpathians. With brânză de burduf and smântână it becomes the Transylvanian trinity: hot, salty, cool, in that order, forever.
Sign in to save recipes to your book and leave reviews.
Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
•
2 cups coarse yellow cornmeal
•
6 cups water
•
1.5 tsp salt
•
1.5 cups brânză (salty sheep’s cheese) or feta, crumbled
•
1 cup smântână (sour cream)
•
2 tbsp butter
Instructions
1
Rain the cornmeal into boiling salted water, whisking; drop the heat and stir with a wooden spoon 30 minutes until it pulls from the pot walls.
2
Beat in the butter. Rest 5 minutes so it sets softly.
3
Layer into bowls: hot mămăligă, crumbled cheese so it half-melts, more mămăligă, more cheese.
4
Crown with cold sour cream and eat while the layers are still three temperatures. A string-cut wedge on a wooden board earns extra points.
Transylvanian shepherd tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Sign in to rate this recipe once you’ve cooked it.
No reviews yet — be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
📍
Transylvania. Carpathian shepherd country, rich in polenta and cheese.
🗺️
Romania. Carpathian polenta country, generous with cheese.
🌍
Europe. Village recipes guarded for generations.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
More from Romania
Omletă Țărănească
A rustic Romanian peasant omelette with tomato, pepper, onion, and salty telemea cheese.