Mămăligă with Cașcaval de Săveni

Mămăligă with Cașcaval de Săveni brings together boiled cornmeal and a named cheese from Botoșani county in northeastern Romania. This page gives a measured four-serving home preparation: soft stovetop mămăligă with most of the finely grated cheese folded through after cooking. The name identifies the pairing; it does not claim that one standardized or historic household formula exists. The European Union protects the cheese name Cașcaval de Săveni IGP when the product meets its specification. That protection belongs to the qualifying cheese, not to this bowl of mămăligă.

The cheese is described in its specification as a semi-hard ripened product made from raw cow’s milk with rennet and aged for at least 60 days. Its elastic, pasty mass can separate into strands instead of crumbling. Those qualities make it suitable for grating into hot cornmeal porridge, where it softens and stretches without needing a separate sauce. Look for the protected name and required product information on the cheese package if you want the recipe to use Cașcaval de Săveni IGP. A different melting cheese can still make a pleasant meal, but it should be named as that cheese rather than given the protected identity.

The amounts here are an editorial home formula, not quantities set by the product specification: 250 g medium- or coarse-ground yellow cornmeal, 1 000 ml water, 2 g fine salt and 200 g grated cheese for four servings. Cornmeal grind affects the result. Medium or coarse meal keeps a little grain and becomes tender during a gentle simmer; cornstarch and very fine corn flour behave differently and are not direct substitutes. The modest salt amount seasons the porridge while leaving room for the savory cheese.

Whisk the cornmeal gradually into fully boiling water so it disperses before the mixture thickens. As the porridge becomes heavy, switch to a sturdy wooden spoon and lower the heat. Stir often, scraping the base and corners where thick cornmeal can catch. Keep the simmer gentle for about 18–20 minutes, then judge readiness by texture as well as time: the grains should be tender, the raw taste gone and the porridge soft enough to fall slowly from a spoon.

The cheese goes in only after the pan is removed from the heat. Stir 150 g through the hot mămăligă until it softens into visible strands; high direct heat is unnecessary and can make the cheese release oil. Keep the remaining 50 g for the top, where it begins to soften during a short rest. The result should remain spoonable, with cheese distributed through the porridge rather than arranged in separate layers.

That last distinction keeps this recipe separate from the Romanian layered mămăligă with Cașcaval de Săveni already represented elsewhere in the collection. The layered version is assembled and baked, often with additional ingredients such as butter or sour cream. This one is cooked entirely on the stovetop and served warm from a bowl. It also differs from pairings with fresh sheep caș or brined telemea: Cașcaval de Săveni is a matured semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese, and its texture and protected product identity should not be conflated with those cheeses.

The schedule allows 10 minutes for measuring, grating and bringing the water to a boil, 20 minutes for the gentle cornmeal simmer and 5 minutes for folding in the cheese and serving. Total time is about 35 minutes. Use a heavy saucepan to reduce scorching, whisk during the initial addition and scrape the bottom after the mămăligă thickens. No thermometer is needed for this method; the recipe depends on tenderness and a soft final consistency, not a temperature-based doneness check.

Serve promptly while the cheese is soft and the porridge is warm. The reserved cheese should lightly melt against the surface, while the mămăligă stays loose enough to spoon. No storage or reheating guidance is supplied here because a recipe-specific instruction has not been established for this particular cheese-and-porridge serving. If Cașcaval de Săveni is unavailable, use a plain semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese that melts and identify it by its own name. The substitution does not carry the IGP designation.