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Sheepfold Pot · Polenta & Cheese

Balmoş

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It's traditionally finished with a hot iron poker plunged straight into the pot — an old trick for scalding the milk without a stove.

Sour cream and fresh sheep's milk are simmered down with cornmeal until they form a rich, tangy polenta, finished with a knob of butter and served straight from the cooking vessel. It's made at pastoral sheepfolds and sold at Maramureş markets and mountain fairs.

Why it's made this way: The dish comes directly out of Maramureş's shepherding culture, where flocks are moved to high pastures each summer and cooks make do with whatever milk and cornmeal the sheepfold has on hand.
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