Potori – cornmeal pies from Maramureș, fried in a pan: a simple, hearty dish from the households of Țara Lăpușului. The recipe comes from Ioana Dunca, 59 years old, from Șieu, collected as part of the Maramureș – GastroEtnoArt project of the Maramureș Museum.
🥣 Ingredients
- sămătișă yogurt (skim milk left after collecting the sour cream)
- 2 tablespoons lard
- 2-3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- cornmeal, as much as it takes
- 1-2 tablespoons wheat flour (if using browned cornmeal)
- oil or lard, for frying
- yogurt, milk or sour cream, for serving
👩🍳 How to prepare
Make a dough from sămătișă yogurt (the skim milk that remains after the sour cream is collected), 2 tablespoons of lard, 2-3 eggs, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and cornmeal, as much as it takes. If we use browned cornmeal, we also add 1-2 tablespoons of wheat flour.
Heat oil (or lard) in a pan. Take the dough with a spoon and shape it into small pies, baked on both sides until golden. They are eaten plain, with yogurt, milk or sour cream.
📖 The story of the recipe
The recipe was given by Ioana Dunca, 59 years old, from Șieu, and is part of the collection of traditional multi-ethnic recipes „Maramureș – GastroEtnoArt” published by the Maramureș Museum in Sighetu Marmației. Potori were an everyday meal, prepared quickly from few ingredients that the housewife had at hand. Sămătișa – the skim milk left after collecting the sour cream – was valued in the Maramureș kitchen precisely because nothing from the household was wasted.
📺 Recipe video
You can watch the step-by-step preparation here: Potori – cornmeal pies, video
🔍 What’s next
If you like cornmeal pies, also try cheese, green onions and dill pies, another traditional Maramureș recipe, or corn chickens (corn flour pancakes) – the cornmeal version of pancakes, served with sour cream or jam.
Recipe source: Maramureș Museum Sighetu Marmației – Maramureș GastroEtnoArt
Photo source: Facebook / Maramureș Museum
