Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or

grilled Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat a ...

. The variety of cereal used is usually yellow

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

, but often

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagopy ...

, white maize, or mixtures thereof may be used. Coarse grinds make a firm, coarse polenta; finer grinds make a soft, creamy polenta. Polenta is a staple of

Northern Italian Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

, Swiss and Balkan (where it is called kačamak or

žganci Žganci is a dish in Slovenian and Croatian cuisine, known as ''Sterz'' in Austria, ''pura'' on the Croatian coast, and also known in northern Italy. It is a traditional "poor man's food" of hard-working farmhands similar to polenta, although pre ...

) cuisines (and, to a lesser extent, the Central Italian one, e.g.

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

) and its consumption was traditionally associated with lower classes, as in times past

cornmeal mush Mush is a type of cornmeal pudding (or porridge) which is usually boiled in water or milk. It is often allowed to set, or gel into a semisolid, then cut into flat squares or rectangles, and pan fried. Usage is especially common in the Eastern U ...

was an essential food in their everyday nutrition. Polenta

Fried polenta with marinara at Cafe Citti - Sarah Stierch

Etymology

covered any

hulled Husk (or hull) in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. In the United States, the term husk often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize (corn) as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective ...

and crushed grain, especially barley-meal, and is derived from the for 'fine flour,' which shares a root with , meaning 'dust.'''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

'' 3rd edition, 2006
''s.v.''
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History

As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier forms of grain mush (known as ''puls'' or ''pulmentum'' in Latin) that were commonly eaten since

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. Before the introduction of

corn (maize) Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

from America in the 16th century, polenta was made from starchy ingredients like

farro Farro refers to the grains of three wheat species, which are sold dried and cooked in water until soft. It is eaten plain or is often used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and other dishes. Definition Farro is an ethnobotanical term for thr ...

, chestnut flour, millet, spelt, and chickpeas.

Cooking time

Polenta takes a long time to cook, simmering in four to five times its volume of watery liquid for about 45 minutes with near-constant stirring; this is necessary for even gelatinization of the starch. Some alternative cooking techniques have been invented to speed up the process or not require constant supervision. Quick-cooking (pre-cooked,

instant In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its ety ...

) polenta is widely used and is prepared in just a few minutes; it is considered inferior to polenta made from unprocessed cornmeal and is best eaten after being baked or fried. In his book ''Heat'',

Bill Buford Bill Buford (born 1954) is an American author and journalist. Buford is the author of the books ''Among the Thugs'' and ''Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscan ...

talks about his experiences as a

line cook A chef de partie, station chef, or line cook is a chef in charge of a particular area of production in a restaurant. In large kitchens, each chef de partie might have several cooks or assistants. In most kitchens, however, the chef de partie is ...

Mario Batali Mario Francesco Batali (born September 19, 1960) is an American chef, writer, and restaurateur. Batali co-owned restaurants in New York City; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and Newport Beach, California; Boston; Singapore; Westport, Connecticut; and ...

's Italian restaurant Babbo. Buford details the differences in taste between instant polenta and slow-cooked polenta and describes a method of preparation that takes up to three hours but does not require constant stirring: "polenta, for most of its cooking, is left unattended. ... If you don't have to stir it all the time, you can cook it for hours—what does it matter, as long as you're nearby?" ''

Cook's Illustrated ''Cook's Illustrated'' is an American cooking magazine published every two months by the America's Test Kitchen company in Brookline, Massachusetts. It accepts no advertising and is characterized by extensive recipe testing and detailed instruct ...

'' magazine has described a method using a

microwave oven A microwave oven (commonly referred to as a microwave) is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce ...

that reduces cooking time to 12 minutes and requires only a single stirring. In March 2010, it presented a stovetop, near-stir-less method that uses a pinch of baking soda (an alkali), which replicates the traditional effect. Kyle Phillips suggested making it in a ''polenta maker'' or

slow cooker A slow cooker, also known as a crock-pot (after a trademark owned by Sunbeam Products but sometimes used generically in the English-speaking world), is a countertop electrical cooking appliance used to simmer at a lower temperature than o ...

In culture

''La Polenta'' by left

Etymology

History

Cooking time

In culture

See also

References

Further reading