Go Back
–+ servings
Golden creamy cicvara in a rustic bowl with kajmak and white cheese alongside

Cicvara

No ratings yet
Share Print Save Recipe
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Total 35 minutes
A rich western Balkan cornmeal dish cooked with milk and water, then worked with kajmak, butter, and mild young white cheese until thick, creamy, and glossy. Serve hot with cool yogurt if desired.
Servings 4 servings
Course Breakfast, Main Course
Cuisine Balkan

Ingredients

Cicvara
  • 2 1/8 cups water US volume rounded
  • 1 2/3 cups whole milk pasteurized whole milk; standard US whole milk is suitable
  • 7.75 oz finely ground corn flour plain milled corn or fine cornmeal, not cornstarch or masa harina
  • 6.4 oz kajmak commercial Balkan dairy kajmak; see ingredient guidance
  • 4.25 oz mild young white cheese or mild white brined cheese, drained and coarsely crumbled
  • 1 3/4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/3 - 2/3 teaspoon fine salt to taste; begin at the low end and finish seasoning after the dairy is incorporated
To Serve (Optional)
  • 5.3 oz plain yogurt or cultured sour milk served separately; use plain unsweetened yogurt or a cultured sour-milk product, not spoiled milk
  • 1.75 oz mild young white cheese additional serving cheese, optional

Equipment

  • Heavy saucepan about 3 quarts (3 liters) for the base quantity; use a larger pot with ample stirring room when scaling
  • Whisk for adding the corn flour
  • Sturdy wooden spoon for working the thick mixture
  • Kitchen scale and measuring jug
  • Small bowl and fork for crumbling the cheese
  • Large serving spoon and warmed bowls
  • Food thermometer for checking reheated leftovers
Start Cooking

Method

  1. Warm the milk and water. Combine the measured water and whole milk in a heavy saucepan. Heat gently over medium heat. While it warms, weigh the corn flour, kajmak, butter, and cheese and prepare your utensils.
  2. Salt lightly. Add only the low end of the listed salt range at first. Kajmak and white cheese may already be salty, so reserve further seasoning until the end.
  3. Whisk in the corn flour. When the liquid reaches a gentle simmer, reduce to low to medium-low heat. Sprinkle in the corn flour slowly in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Do not dump it in as one mound.
  4. Smooth the mixture. Keep whisking firmly for 2–3 minutes, until no dry flour pockets remain and the mixture begins to thicken.
  5. Cook the corn base. Switch to a sturdy wooden spoon as the mixture thickens. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently and firmly across the bottom and around the sides so the milk and corn do not catch.
  6. Work in the kajmak. Add the kajmak in three or four portions. Stir each portion completely into the hot corn mixture before adding the next. Keep the heat low rather than boiling the dairy hard.
  7. Melt in the butter. Add the butter and stir until completely melted and incorporated.
  8. Crumble and add the cheese. Coarsely crumble the mild white cheese with a fork, then stir it into the cicvara. Small soft pieces may remain; it does not need to disappear completely.
  9. Finish over low heat. Continue cooking and stirring firmly for another 8–10 minutes. Scrape across the bottom and the edges regularly. The fine corn should become tender and lose its raw, gritty character; a coarser product may take longer.
  10. Check the texture. Look for a thick, creamy, glossy mass that briefly leaves a spoon trail, begins to pull away from parts of the pot as you stir, and shows small shiny streaks of fat. It should slowly relax when spooned onto a plate, not be dry or crumbly. Fat sheen alone is not a doneness test.
  11. Adjust and season. If too stiff, stir in a little hot milk at a time, using only as much as needed to restore a creamy texture. Taste once the corn is cooked and the dairy is incorporated, then add any remaining salt only as needed.
  12. Serve immediately. Spoon the hot cicvara into warmed shallow bowls or plates. Offer the optional cool yogurt or cultured sour milk and extra young cheese separately. The dish firms as it cools and is best served directly from the pot.

Notes

  • Corn flour. Use finely ground whole-corn flour or fine cornmeal made from plain corn. This is not cornstarch, masa harina, self-rising cornmeal mix, or instant polenta. Fine polenta can be used if it is plain finely ground corn; coarser meal needs longer cooking and may require texture adjustments not established here.
  • Kajmak. Use a commercially prepared, properly refrigerated Balkan dairy kajmak with the rich cream character intended for savory cooking. Check its ingredients and salt level. Products bearing the name may be cheese-and-oil spreads and are not automatically equivalent. No tested cream-cheese, sour-cream, or butter replacement is specified, and this recipe does not depend on a homemade kajmak method.
  • Cheese. Use a mild young white cheese or mild white brined cheese, drained of free brine. Very dry or salty feta can dominate the dish; it is not a neutral automatic swap.
  • US measures and salt. Ounces are weights; the water and milk volumes are rounded. Fine salt volume assumes about 6 g per teaspoon. Metric preserves the source amounts, including the 2–4 g salt range. Begin at the low end and season only after the kajmak and cheese are incorporated.
  • Timing and scaling. The 10-minute prep estimate includes warming the milk-water mixture while weighing the dairy ingredients. About 25 minutes of active cooking follows the corn flour addition; actual time depends on grind, pot, heat, and batch size. There is no planned resting stage. At 2x or 3x, use a larger heavy pot, maintain gentle heat, and judge the corn texture instead of multiplying time mechanically.
  • Texture. The finished cicvara should be thick but creamy, leaving a brief trail behind the spoon and slowly relaxing on the plate. Small glossy fat streaks are typical, but neither a fat sheen nor pulling away from the pot proves that coarse grains are cooked. Check tenderness as well. For a mixture that becomes too stiff, add hot milk a little at a time; small adjustment amounts are additional to the fixed formula.
  • Storage. Serve fresh. Divide leftovers into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly, within 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F/32°C); keep at 40°F/4°C or below and use within 2 days. Do not cool the entire deep pot on the counter. Reheat gently with a little milk or water, stirring until hot throughout and reaching 165°F/74°C.
  • Nutrition pending. A defensible complete-recipe estimate requires the actual kajmak and cheese labels, whose fat, moisture, and salt content vary widely. Numerical nutrition has been left blank rather than assigning a generic value to an unverified dairy product. Optional yogurt and serving cheese would need to be calculated separately.