Turkey · Black Sea

Kuymak (Black Sea Cornmeal and Cheese)

Butter, fine corn flour and water form a loose base for melting kolot cheese, producing the long pulls and glistening butter that define Black Sea kuymak.

Toasted corn flour, melted cheese and butter rising at the rim Breakfast and hot dish
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Hot skillet of Turkish kuymak with bread and melted cheese
Kuymak is served immediately from its hot pan and scooped with bread.
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 30 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients ↓
Overview

How to Make Stretchy Black Sea Kuymak

Kuymak is a hot combination of butter, corn flour, water and melting cheese associated with Türkiye's Black Sea region. Closely related preparations may be called mıhlama, and names and ratios shift locally. The version here follows the visual and technical signals most useful to a home cook: fine corn flour toasted in butter, a loose hydrated base, high-moisture cheese that stretches and a final surface where clear butter appears around the edges.

This is not firm polenta with cheese stirred through it. Too much corn flour produces a spoon-standing mass that swallows the cheese and loses its characteristic pull. The hydrated base should remain loose before the cheese enters. Fine corn flour, rather than cornstarch or coarse cornmeal, cooks quickly and disperses smoothly. Toast it only until nutty; deep browning changes the pale colour and can make the finished pan taste bitter.

Kolot cheese is the regional reference. It melts readily, stretches and brings enough salt to season the dish. Availability outside Türkiye can be limited, so the specified practical alternative combines low-moisture mozzarella for elasticity with young kaşar for flavour. Neither should be heavily aged, very dry or pre-shredded with anti-caking powder. Grate the cheese coarsely just before cooking and taste it before deciding whether the pan needs salt.

Minimal stirring after the cheese is added protects the structure. Scatter it evenly, press it gently into the hot base and allow heat to travel through. Repeated vigorous mixing can separate fat, tangle the cheese into a lump or shorten the strands. When the centre lifts in long pulls and butter beads at the rim, stop cooking. Waiting for a brown crust sacrifices the tender texture.

Kuymak is served directly in its cooking pan, traditionally as a shared breakfast or rich hot dish with bread. That means the skillet remains dangerously hot at the table. Set it on a stable trivet, keep its handle away from guests and warn everyone before they reach in. The cheese pull is at its best for only a few minutes, so bread and diners should be ready before cooking begins.

Practical

Practical

  • Corn flour is not cornstarchUse finely milled whole maize flour, sometimes labelled fine cornmeal. Pure white cornstarch thickens abruptly and has neither the flavour nor structure required for kuymak.
  • Choose cheese for moisture and stretchFresh kolot is ideal. A young, flexible cheese works better than an aged one; very mature kaşar contributes flavour but often releases fat before forming long pulls.
  • Adjust the base before cheeseIf the corn mixture is already stiff, whisk in hot water before adding cheese. Once the cheese melts, aggressive correction damages the texture and makes fat separation more likely.
Ingredients

Ingredients

Kuymak

  • 90 g good-quality unsalted butter
  • 100 g fine yellow corn flour not cornstarch
  • 400 ml hot water
  • 350 g kolot cheese coarsely grated
  • or 220 g low-moisture mozzarella plus 130 g young kaşar practical cheese substitute
  • 0-3 g fine salt only if the cheese requires it
  • 400 g crusty bread for serving
Directions

Directions

Prepare the ingredients

  1. Grate and taste the cheese.Coarsely grate the kolot, or separately grate mozzarella and young kaşar. Taste a small piece to judge salt. Warm the bread and have the table ready.

    The cheese feels moist and pliable, not dry, crumbly or coated in powder.

  2. Reserve finishing butter.Set aside 15 g of the butter. Put the remaining 75 g in the wide skillet and melt over medium-low heat until foaming but not browned.

    Butter is fully liquid and pale, with active white foam and no nut-brown specks.

Make a loose corn-flour base

  1. Toast the corn flour.Add the fine corn flour and stir continuously for 4-5 minutes, spreading it across the base. Keep the heat moderate so the mixture stays golden yellow.

    The raw dusty smell becomes warm and nutty without the flour turning brown.

  2. Add hot water gradually.Pour in the hot water in four additions while stirring. Smooth each addition before adding the next and take care because the pan will spit at first.

    The mixture is lump-free and flows back slowly after the spoon passes.

  3. Cook out the flour.Simmer gently for 5-7 minutes, stirring and scraping the base. Taste, then add only as much salt as the cheese requires.

    The base tastes cooked and remains softer than finished polenta, never forming a rigid mound.

Melt and serve

  1. Distribute the cheese.Scatter the kolot evenly over the hot base. If using the substitute, mix the two grated cheeses first. Press lightly with the spoon without vigorously stirring them in.

    Cheese covers the surface in an even layer and begins melting at the edges.

  2. Wait for long pulls.Cook on low heat for 3-5 minutes. Lift gently from the centre once or twice to check melting, but avoid constant mixing.

    The centre rises in long continuous strands and no unmelted dry shreds remain.

  3. Finish with butter.Melt the reserved butter separately or at the pan edge and drizzle it across the surface. Remove the skillet from heat as soon as clear butter beads appear around the rim.

    The pan glistens while the cheese and corn base remain joined, not swimming in separated fat.

  4. Serve from the skillet.Move the pan onto a stable trivet, turn the handle away and warn diners that it is hot. Scoop immediately with bread while the cheese is at maximum stretch.

    Each portion pulls from the centre in glossy strands rather than breaking into firm blocks.
Practical

Practical

Use low heat for the final stage

The base is already cooked. The cheese needs gentle, even heat to melt; a fierce burner scorches corn flour at the bottom while the upper shreds remain firm.

Scale across two skillets

A deep double batch melts unevenly and loses the table presentation. For eight people, prepare two pans side by side and bring them to the table together.

Control points

Control points

  • The kuymak is firm like polenta. Too much flour or too little water was used. Before adding cheese, beat in hot water; after adding cheese, correction is limited.
  • The cheese will not stretch. It may be too aged, dry or coated with anti-caking powder. Use fresh grated kolot or the specified mozzarella-kaşar blend.
  • A large pool of fat separates. The pan was overheated or overworked after cheese entered. Remove from heat and fold once gently; use lower heat next time.
  • The base tastes raw. Corn flour was not toasted or simmered long enough. Keep it over low heat until nutty and fully hydrated before adding cheese.
Nutrition

Nutrition

  • Calories650 kcal
  • Protein27 g
  • Carbohydrates28 g
  • Fat48 g
  • Saturated fat30 g
  • Fiber2 g
  • Sugars1 g
  • Sodium850 mg

1 of 4 servings — Approximate values exclude serving bread and vary with the salt, moisture and fat content of kolot or the substitute cheeses.

Allergens · Food safety

Allergens · Food safety

Allergens: Milk

Food safety: Keep cheese refrigerated until cooking and return leftovers to refrigeration within 2 hours. Use a stable trivet and warn diners that the skillet and melted cheese are extremely hot. Reheat leftovers to 74°C, though the original cheese pull will be weaker.

Storage: Kuymak is best immediately. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 2 days and reheat gently with a splash of water to 74°C. Do not freeze.

FAQ

FAQ

Are kuymak and mıhlama the same?

The names and ratios overlap and vary across the Black Sea region. Some local usage distinguishes a more corn-flour-forward kuymak from a more cheese-forward mıhlama, while other communities use the terms interchangeably.

Can I make it with mozzarella alone?

Mozzarella supplies stretch but little of kolot's flavour. It works technically, though blending it with young kaşar gives a more convincing savoury dairy character.

Does kuymak contain eggs?

Not in this version and not in the core Black Sea formula used here. Its body comes from fine corn flour, water, butter and cheese.

What is served with it?

Fresh crusty bread is enough and is used to scoop from the shared pan. Tea and a broader Turkish breakfast spread can surround it, but kuymak itself should reach the table first and hot.

Stop when the pan begins to pull

Stop when the pan begins to pull

Proper kuymak is loose, buttery and elastic, with cooked corn flavour underneath and cheese that stretches rather than hardens into a cap.

Keep the corn base soft, use moist melting cheese, stir minimally after it enters and carry the pan to the table the instant long pulls form.

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