Turkish Melted Cheese And Cornmeal Recipe

A favorite breakfast staple in turkeys northern black sea region is a delicious blend of local cheeses melted together with coarsely ground cornmeal. It is cooked in sahan, which is a copper pan with two handles (like a paella pan). Pieces of fresh, crusty bread are used to scoop up the mixture with your fingers. This dish is called kuymak (kooy-mak) in the city of trabzon, mhlama (mih-lah-mah) in the northeastern provinces like erzurum and bayburt and muhlama (mooh-lah-mah) in rize and artvin. In giresun and ordu its called yala (yah-lahsh). The key to authentic mhlama is the cheese. Fresh cheeses like feta and other turkish white cheeses wont do. Aged cheeses work the best, especially the local cheeses from the black sea region like trabzon cheese. High-quality kashar cheese will also work. These cheeses are made from unpasteurized milk. Once the milk turns to cheese it is put in containers and doused with boiling water and left until the water cools completely. The cheese is then removed from the water and sliced. Sometimes salt is added and the cheese is frozen for future use.