table talk / By Simona Carini

Polenta: Variations on a Theme

(March 1, 2007)  Polenta is one of those ageless culinary lords, like bread. It has sprung from the hunger of mankind, and without apparent effort has always carried with it a feeling of strength and dignity and well-being.

M.F.K. Fisher, How to Cook a Wolf

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Polenta is an ancient Mediterranean dish. The Greeks, Romans and others who lived in Italy in ancient times made puls by cooking farro, millet and other grains or chestnut flour in water or milk, then added legumes, vegetables, eggs and cheese for a nutritious meal. The dish changed after corn from the Americas was introduced in Europe in the 16th century. Corn cultivation expanded to Italy in the 17th century and was rapidly adopted, especially in the Northern regions. Polenta made with corn became a staple of the lower classes, in part because corn was cheaper than the wheat used for bread, but also because of the sense of satiety it provided.

That sense has endured. In the 21st century, my father considers polenta the best food to keep him warm on a cold and rainy winter day. He lives in Italy and has never been to Humboldt County. However, I can imagine him watching our torrential rain and proclaiming: “The right day for polenta.” When such a day occurs he traditionally suggests to my mother that she make polenta for lunch. She serves her polenta in wooden bowls that are supposed to keep it warm longer, and seasons each portion with a ladleful ofsugo con le salsicce (tomato and meat sauce with sausages), and finally sprinkles a mix of grated parmigiano and pecorino over all.

As a child I relished the leftovers, of which I was the only consumer. Polenta solidifies fast and can be sliced. I would put thick slices on a baking pan and distribute over them thin slices of Swiss cheese, smoked mozzarella or mild caciotta (an Italian cow milk cheese). After removing the collection of lids that are permanently housed in my mother’s oven, which always come crushing down noisily when someone dares to open the oven door, I would bake the polenta until it was heated through and the cheese melted.

My mother’s polenta is excellent in taste and texture. Hence, when I decided to make polenta at home in California, I asked her for her recipe. “Una scodella d’acqua a persona,” was her answer: a soup bowl of water per person.

“And how much polenta per person?”

“Use half and half.”

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