Kuymak (or Kuymack or Mich-lama)

Translating the name of this dish was a toughie even though it's an essentially bland and simple food. Basically, it is polenta with cheese but not as thick as the Italian version. It has a thick pouring sauce consistency.

This dish - you may call it a mush if you'd like - is particular to the northern part of Turkey. It is a very popular breakfast dish mostly in the cities along the Black Sea coastal region. However, you can enjoy it any time of day.

Ingredients

• 1 cup corn meal
• 1 stick butter
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup cheese
• salt to taste

Before I get to instructions, I have to stop here to talk about the cheese. The cheese for this dish is specially sold in stores in Turkey and not readily available here in the U.S. The original cheese for this is called minzi and it's some sort of dry skim milk cheese. You can substitute shredded mozzarella, cheddar, monterey jack, pepper jack  or feta cheese if you'd like. As I've mentioned, the cheese has to be dry. Don't waste your time experimenting with, let's say, cottage cheese, or the like. I strongly recommend a 50-50 mixture of mozzarella and feta. Feta is rich in flavor but not strong enough to dominate the dish when there is mozzarella. My two cents...

Preparation

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan. After the butter is fully melted - but definitely not browned - add the corn meal. 
2. Keep stirring until corn meal turns a little brownish. Be careful not to burn the corn meal. (Well, in that case you have to start all over again!) 
3. Add hot water to corn meal and stir until it thickens. After that, add the cheese and cook for another 5 minutes. 
4. Add the salt and keep stirring. 
5. Serve immediately. 

It's also worth mentioning that you need to be careful with feta cheese, especially the fat-free kind. It's very salty and you may not need to add any salt at all. It sure depends on how salty you like.