Here is another famous Romanian cornmeal dish. Mamaliga is similar to the polenta of northern Italy, and it is typical of the Romanian Jewish diet. It is combined here with cottage cheese to make a pudding. It is most important that you stir the cornmeal as it cooks. In northern Italy and Romania, cooks use a long wooden pole to stir, but a wooden spoon works well, too. When served cold, the mamaliga is sliced with a cotton thread.