Creamy Polenta with Bacon & Feta (Rhodope Kachamak)
Kachamak (Balkan-Style Polenta) is an authentic Bulgarian maize meal that resembles a thick porridge, made with yellow cornmeal and butter and is wonderfully spiced with fragrant sweet paprika. The dish is rich and full of flavour, garnished with rich butter sauce and fatty streaky bacon or feta cheese. It's commonly served for breakfast, as a mezze or as a side to other dishes.
Heat the water and milk in a heavy-based pot on your hob. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and salt to your taste. Stir in the butter with the liquids until it melts and integrates.
When the liquid mixture comes to the boil, add the cornmeal and stir until it absorbs the liquid. Make a few holes in the cornmeal mass with the handle of your wooden spoon. Reduce the heat to low and let the corn mixture bubble for 30 minutes.
After the 30 minutes, while still cooking it on low heat, start stirring the cornmeal mash vigorously with a long-handled wooden spoon for about 10 minutes or until the cornmeal mash is creamy and smooth.
Heat a small frying pan on the hob and melt butter for the butter sauce. When it starts bubbling, add the sweet paprika and stir until it changes colour. Be careful not to burn the paprika, it only requires a few seconds of cooking.
Plate the polenta. Pour the melted butter sauce over the plate. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese or a few beautifully cooked streaks of fatty bacon.
Keyword Balkan-Style Polenta, Bulgarian Polenta, Creamy Polenta, Kachamak, polenta, Polenta with bacon, Polenta with feta, Rhodope Kachamak