Polenta - it's history and how to cook it

 

Painting: La Polenta (1740), by Pietro Longhi. Oil on canvas, 61 cm (24 in) x 50 cm (19.6 in). located at the Longhi Room, Ca' Rezzonico, Venice from Wikimedia

The art above depicts that happy moment when the food is ready to enjoy. One woman tips a copper pot of hot, freshly made polenta onto a white table cloth. The woman behind holds a 'tarai', a long, wooden baton used to patiently stir the ground maize as it cooks and softens in water.

There is an Italian saying:- La polenta è utile per quattro cose: serve da minestra, serve da pane, sazia, e scalda le mani, " Polenta is good for four things: to make soup, to make bread, to fill you up, and to warm your hands.”

Polenta is made from yellow corn coarsely milled, it is gluten free rich in fibre and protein and complex carbohydrates and low in fat, it was a staple to many giving them the strength to work in the fields. 

Polenta was the food of the poor, the poor in the North of Italy, where corn and rice grow well, the rich put meat in sauce on top sometimes served family style on a wooden board 'spianatora' - or even the table and everyone dives in,  or it's often served 'pucio' on a plate with a hole in the middle of the polenta filled up with broth or stew. The less well off made do with a little butter or brushed it with a dried anchovy hanging over the table. Having said that a bowl of cheesy creamy polenta with a knob of butter is the best comfort food for rich or poor alike. Cooked then allowed to set, polenta air fried or grilled makes a great crunchy base for a hot or cold topping, cut into strips and air fried polenta makes great chips (fries).

Northern Italians eat that much that they are nicknamed 'polentoni' - polenta eaters by Southern pasta lovers. Whilst commonly eaten in central Europe polenta has never caught on in the UK, it's rarely on a menu at any Italian bistro. Larger supermarkets should stock it. 

In her book, 'Slow', the legendary Italian cook and author Valentina Harris says that she has never found a really good instant polenta, she may be right but instant polenta is just as versatile, quick and cheap, if you find it, try it. I use both instant and slow when I can't find instant. I've seen blocks of cooked polenta, don't buy it, you can make your own for about 30p.

Cooking Polenta Instant and traditional

The rule is 1 cup of polenta to 4 cups of water (add a stock cube if you wish) salt the water and bring to the boil, whisk the water as you add the polenta like a mist, keep whisking for a couple of minutes as it thickens, then swop to a wooden spoon. Turn the heat to almost off, lid on, stir occasionally and follow the packet instructions.

For traditional cook as above, but stir it every five mins or so for at least forty minutes.

Just before the time on the packet or forty minutes add some grated parmesan and a knob of butter, mix and cover and leave for a few minutes.

I serve it creamy and soft, and pour the remainder into a pyrex dish to set and fry it the next day.

Will the family like it?

To most Brits polenta is something they just don't get, they say, 'what is the point, what's wrong with mash?' 

And I think that is the point, there is nothing wrong with mash; it's a carrier for a savoury sauce of some sort, so is your pasta, so is your rice and so is polenta. It may take a few attempts for your family to start to like this grain but they will.

Buon Appetito