Georgian Ghomi with Sulguni

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups coarse white cornmeal, preferably stone-ground
• 6 cups water, plus more hot water as needed
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup fine white corn flour
• 8 oz Georgian sulguni cheese, cut into thick strips or bite-size pieces, for serving

Method

1. 1.Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a heavy pot. Whisk in the coarse white cornmeal gradually, then reduce the heat to low as soon as the mixture returns to a simmer.
2. 2.Cook 30 to 35 minutes, stirring every few minutes with a sturdy wooden spoon and scraping the bottom and corners. Add a splash of hot water whenever the porridge becomes too stiff to stir before the grain is tender.
3. 3.Checkpoint: the coarse grains should taste fully hydrated with no hard gritty center, and the pot should smell sweet and cooked-corn-like rather than raw or scorched.
4. 4.Sprinkle in the fine corn flour a few tablespoons at a time while stirring continuously so it disappears into the hot porridge without forming dry pockets.
5. 5.Continue cooking 10 to 15 minutes over very low heat, beating and folding the ghomi with the spoon. Checkpoint: it should become thick, glossy and cohesive, pulling away from the pot in heavy folds while remaining soft enough to spoon rather than slice.
6. 6.Season with salt. If the ghomi is stiff enough to stand in a dry mound, beat in hot water 2 tablespoons at a time until it relaxes to a soft, elastic consistency.
7. 7.Spoon the ghomi into warm bowls or onto a serving platter. Push pieces of sulguni partly into the hot porridge and leave them 1 to 2 minutes so the edges soften and become stretchy while the centers retain some body.
8. 8.Serve immediately with Georgian beans, stews or vegetable dishes. Ghomi should be treated as the starch foundation of the meal rather than buried under sweet toppings.