As warm as a mother’s embrace, as soft as a baby’s blanket, mamaliga, a cornmeal mush that is a close relative to polenta, is the ultimate comfort food. In Romania, mamaliga was eaten round the clock, and in the early twentieth century immigrants from that country brought it to the U.S. and sang about it in the Yiddish theater. Since it’s meatless, it’s great for the pre-Tisha b’Av period, though you can eat it anytime.
This recipe comes from my mother, who still remembers her own mother standing over the stove and stirring the mamaliga carefully for 20 minutes or more, to make sure that it was velvety smooth. For a more solid mamaliga, cook longer, then spread it out on a board and cut it into slices.