Comments on: Mamaliga, The Recipe

By: Gabi

Gabi — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:26:00 +0000

Glad to hear, Elva! Tiraspol? Didn’t hear the name of that town in a while! Looks like now is part of the Moldova Republic instead of Romania. Let me know how it turned out and if your Dad liked it!

By: elva

elva — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 03:51:48 +0000

Hi my Grandparents were born in Russia in the 1800′s.
Now the area is in Romanian.[Tiraspol]
Dad just told us about his Mom making Mamalika.[we didn't know the correct spelling]
When I when on the net and typed it in I found what I really wanted was Romanian Mamaliga. Wonderful, now I can make it for Dad who is 95.
Thanks very much.

By: Gabi

Gabi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:44:20 +0000

Liliana:
Thanks much for the comment on Mamaliga! And thanks for the precious information on how Mamaliga is prepared differently in certain regions.

And I can see easily that pushed away plate by that lady being coveted by the others in the group! Hahaha. I am sure that lady is regretting that now.

So you completely swap the water for the cream in the Banush recipe?? You must have some water to bring it to a boil first, right?

Feta – the ones you buy in the groceries in America, is a joke. Real FETA has to be Greek or at least from the Balcans. you can find it, nevertheless, but you pay a premium price for it. Sometimes, look for “Bulgarian Feta” in ethnic grocery stores, that comes quite close to the real thing. But please don’t buy the “Feta” made in Wisconsin – hehehehe.

Thanks again!

By: lilianna

lilianna — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:58:43 +0000

I found you site by accident and enjoyed reading this thread. I love mamaliga, but I prefer the richer taste of banush(mamaliga made with cream instead of water). Depending on the region of Ukraine, mamaliga is also called kolesha. My first trip to Ukraine, my tour group went into the Carpatian mountains and we stopped at a restaurant (absolutely beatiful, completely made of wood and lots of carvings and inlay) for lunch. The tour guide had pre-arranged for us to have a traditional mountain lunch; Mamaliga with Brindza, fresh picked mountain mushrooms in cream sauce, a fruit drink called Compote, and something resembling apple strudel for dessert. One of the ladies in our group took one look at the mamaliga and the mushrooms and decided it was not on her diet, and pushed the plates away. In a split second it looked like a wedding bouquet got tossed as 30 pairs of hands made a lunge for the mamliga and mushrooms. I was too far away to score anything. I would have traded my strudel for another bowl of mamliga.

My mother has tried to make a diet version of the banush substituting fat free sour cream for some of the water once the cormeal thickens too much. It’s a good compromise, but nothing comes close to the taste that I remember. Feta just doesn’t have that same bite as a good piece of brindza.

I’m starting to drool…….

By: Gabi

Gabi — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:55:54 +0000

Dolly – That’s hilarious! You are right! I wonder how it got included in there?!?!? Thanks for the comment!

By: Dolly Selanik

Dolly Selanik — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:45:45 +0000

I found mamaliga in the Scrabble dictionary. I don’t think it is even in Webster’s Dictionary…how about that! the writers of the Scrabble dictionary must be Romanian because the word is not as well knnown as the word polenta.

By: Gabi

Gabi — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:20:57 +0000

lem!

Thanks for the comment! The wooden spoon trick is a very good indicator that the Mamaliga is done! Good tip! Hehe – glad I made you hungry! Make sure you buy the more coarser corn meal, that makes the best mamaliga!

cheers!

By: Gabi

Gabi — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:13:30 +0000

Hi Adnana –

Depinde de ce ai in cup. Linkul asta mi-a fost de folos sa inteleg conversia:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_grams_are_in_a_cup

Sper ca te va ajuta si pe tine.

By: adnana

adnana — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:07:16 +0000

Te rog ,spune-mi cite grame are 1 cup american ?

By: lem

lem — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:30:11 +0000

My Dad made mamaliga all the time when we were growing up. He used an 8 quart pan and a wooden spoon. He used to say it was done when the wooden spoon stood up straight in the pan. We ate it with cottage cheese, salt and pepper. It was fun to watch your video. Think I better go buy some corn meal…………….NOW, you’ve made me hungry!
Thanks!