Polenta pizza margherita
Grilled polenta with cime di rapa
Polenta with black bean and spicy sausage stew
Almond crumble cake
Ifondly remember sitting at the table in a provincial kitchen talking to a local farmer about his childhood memories while his wife added the finishing touches to lunch. Polenta was on the agenda – and the menu.
As a child, he had eaten it daily. It was the staple of necessity of the rural community in Italy not so long back. He remembered how he would sit by the fire, hungry and waiting, as his mother stirred the copper pot continuously. When the food was ready, everyone would run to the table as she hefted the contents of the paiolo onto a wooden board. She served it soft, dressed simply with cheese and butter – in better times with a meat ragù. But when times were especially rough it would be just the polenta, with a little childish imagination for flavour.
Polenta is perhaps one of the oldest dishes known to Italy. Made originally from any pulse – often a mix of spelt and rye – it was boiled to a thick gruel, with cheese or herbs added when they were available. The polenta we know today is made from maize flour or corn (gran turco) and was imported to Europe from America in
