Cicvara

Ingredients

The pot

• 1 litrefull cream milk
• or 500 ml milk and 500 ml single cream
• 300 gkajmak, clotted cream
• or 300 g clotted cream or thick sour cream
• 1 teaspoonsalt

Grain

• 250 gfine maize flour
• or 250 g fine polenta

Cheese

• 250 gyoung white cheese, crumbled
• or 250 g mild feta, rinsed

Sometimes added

• 50 gbutter
• extra kajmak, to serve

Directions

1. Grind coarse polenta finer if that is all you have. Use a heavy pan with a thick base. A thin pan burns them before they thicken.
2. Put the milk and cream in the pan. Add the kajmak to the pan as well. Add the salt to the pan as well. Warm it over a steady medium heat. Stir it as it heats so nothing settles.
3. Bring it to just below a simmer. Never let it boil hard at any point. Sprinkle the maize flour in gradually.
4. Whisk hard the whole time you pour. Take a full two minutes over this. Whisk until it is completely smooth. Do not stop stirring at any point.
5. Crumble the young cheese into the pot. Stir it through until it melts in. Give it another five full minutes.
6. Rinse feta first if it is very salty. Judging the finished dish takes a look. Taste it and adjust the salt to suit. Serving it is done immediately while hot.
7. Spoon it out into warm shallow bowls. Make sure everyone gets some of the butter. Add an extra spoonful of kajmak on top. Portions should be small, since it is very rich. Make only as much as you will eat.

Technique

• The dish is cooked until the butterfat separates out of the cream into a golden pool on the surface, which is the sign it is properly made.
• Kajmak is a Balkan clotted cream made by skimming the skin from slowly cooled boiled milk and lightly salting the collected layers.
• It is a celebration food and is also given to new mothers as strengthening food.

Substitutions

• Clotted cream or very thick sour cream stand in for kajmak.
• Fine maize flour is essential, since coarse polenta stays gritty and will not dissolve.

Variations

• Kacamak is the plainer relative made with water rather than cream.
• Some households add more cheese for a sharper dish.
• Popara and pura are related cooked-grain dishes in the region.

History

Made from cream skimmed off milk and cooked with maize flour until the butter separates, a highland celebration food.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cicvara?

Cicvara is a main from Montenegro: rich creamy cornmeal and young cheese porridge. Made from cream skimmed off milk and cooked with maize flour until the butter separates, a highland celebration food.

How long does Cicvara take to make?

Cicvara takes 10 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Cicvara?

Yes, within limits. Clotted cream or very thick sour cream stand in for kajmak. Fine maize flour is essential, since coarse polenta stays gritty and will not dissolve.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cicvara?

Bring it to just below a simmer. Never let it boil hard at any point. Sprinkle the maize flour in gradually.