# The art of making polenta



## di reston (May 24, 2017)

The thread on ossobuco prompted me to post this. I refer to it as an art, because there are certain techniques for making a good polenta that are well worth learning, and it's also well worth the effort.

Corn, or what we call sweet corn, or corn on the cob, was originally introduced into Europe by Christopher Columbus, so it's been around for a long time. Initially it was used solely for animal food, but a chef called Castore Durante mentioned in his book Herbario that it was also being used by peasant farmers. It caught on very quickly because it was easy to cultivate and quickly overtook the use of barley, corn, millet and other lesser used cereal products.

Jumping forward several centuries, maize became popularly cultivated in northern Italy and particulary around Milan and westward. Without going too much into the science of the best grain size of maize for human consumption, we take another jump forward. In Italy, the Bramata type of maize is favoured for making polenta. The best quality is golden yellow, stone ground with a fairly rough texture. I can't emphasise enough how vastly superior it is to the more convenient 'instant' varieties available on the market. I should imagine that in the USA there must be fine quality similar maize flour available.

Here is the recipe:

For 6 people:

500g best quality slightly 'grainy' maize flour.
1.8L water
10g coarse salt.
Quantities may vary according to the humidity levels in the flour itself, ambiente temperature and seasonal time of year.

Essential ingredients

Lots of patience, strong wrists for stirring and love of cookery.

Preparation time and cooking time: at least 1 hour, 1 1/2 hours better still.

Procedure:

First of all, get out a large heavy pan, preferably copper, and put the water in. Bring to the boil. This is where the hard work starts: First, put a spoonful of polenta flour into the boiling water. It will float. As soon as it starts moving towards the centre of the pan, salt the water, turn the heat down and start drizzling the polenta flour in, while stirring the water the while. As you do with your left hand, stir vigourously with your right hand, to keep the vortex moving, When you have put 3/4 of the flour in the pan,
Now stop stirring and rest for 2 minutes. Now, change utensil from a spoon to a wooden stirring stick, and you start counting the time down. From now on it's going to take 45 minutes at least. This is the stage that requires a little patience and practice. As you drizzle the rest of the polenta flour into the pan, you incorporate it, with the wooden spoon, and with a turning of the wrist, bottom to top of the pan so that the flour is evenly incorporated into the rest. DO  NOT KEEP TURNING IT. Start by turning it every 5 minutes to start with and, as you go up to the final 15 minutes, so that it starts 5mins,7mins,10mins,14mins, and finally 15 mins. There is no doubt that this is a labour of love! But well worth the effort. Bear in mind that the polenta, at this stage, should not 'spit', rather 'gloop' gently. The sides of the pan will have polenta sticking, as well as the bottom. When the polenta is ready you will see that a crust will have formed around the sides and bottom of the pan. This is to be expected. This way it should be easy to turn it out of the pan. 

Traditionally, polenta is served on a wooden board, and cut into portions. I'll post another message shortly to mention what main dish (braised meat, fish, etc) goes with what type of polenta, i.e. whether it should be creamier with one dish or firmer with another.

Finally, there's never any point in doing polenta for two! It's the stuff of having friends around, good company, good wine and a darn good evening!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## Sagittarius (May 24, 2017)

Good Afternoon Di Reston, 

Absolutely, an  amazingly exceptional recipe with exemplary well written instructions.  Thank you very much for your fore-sights.  

In all honesty, though I am a grand fan of Polenta, I have never actually prepared it at home .. 

I have seen Morretti Spa Coarse Yellow  Polenta Flour and Molini Riuniti Spa Coarse Yellow Corn / Polenta Flour here at the International  Super Market El Corte Inglés and when I was in Milano for professional reasons, for a tour to  Eataly, I had noticed a wide variety of corn flours ..

Which do you recommend ?  

I am going to copy and paste your recipe.  Thanks again .. 

Have a lovely afternoon.


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## di reston (May 24, 2017)

It's not exactly a question of 'which one do I recommend' - I advise you to look, first of all, at the way the polenta has been milled. It should look like tiny granules, not microscopic ones, and you should be able to see a kind of 'speckled' look, and somewhat rough looking granules. Then check the pedigree - i.e. look for a polenta flour that's obviously been ground through a mill and that's all. It shouldn't look processed at all, just ground to the right consistency. That makes all the difference to the end result.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast     Oscar Wilde


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## Sagittarius (May 24, 2017)

Di Reston, 

Thank you ..  Shall do !

Understand perfectly ..   

It certainly does make an enormous difference ..  

Thanks again.


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## Kayelle (May 24, 2017)

Please forgive this "lazy cook" take on the subject of polenta. I've been making it in the oven for some time now with wonderful results. 
It's well explained here...
Making Creamy Polenta With No Stirring - FineCooking


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## GotGarlic (May 24, 2017)

I'm sure it's delicious made the traditional way, but I don't have the patience to do that. I never made polenta before I bought the Instant Pot multicooker (an electronic pressure cooker with other functions). It's yummy and done in 15 minutes of cooking time.


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## medtran49 (May 24, 2017)

I've always made it on the stovetop, and certainly never felt there was an "art" to it.  It's  much like making stone-ground grits. It just takes time and patience.


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## jennyema (May 24, 2017)

"Maize Flour" to me means corn flour, which is not what you make polenta with ....


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## GotGarlic (May 24, 2017)

jennyema said:


> "Maize Flour" to me means corn flour, which is not what you make polenta with ....


She's referring to coarsely ground cornmeal.


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## Cooking Goddess (May 25, 2017)

I've been making polenta for a number of years. We think it's smooth and creamy. We enjoy it with whatever we pair it with. It never seemed to be as much of a production as this. 4 measures of liquid for every one of corn, plus extra on the side to add as it thickens. Huh. Guess I'll just keep doing it the un-authentic way.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 11, 2017)

Sorry for responding to this thread so late. I've been away.
Never made polenta. Have made grits, a porridge from whole grain or nixtamalized ground corn a few times a week for decades though. Never owned, or even seen a large heavy copper pot, except for in an uncle's still. Made mine for years in a regular heavy pot and hovered over it stirring to prevent scorching. A few years ago, don't remember the inspiration, started putting a stainless steel mixing bowl atop the pot and cooking the grits polenta in that. With this method, I can start the coffee and the grits and take a shower while they cook. If it is a real course grain they may take 30 - 40 minutes but you can let them go for twice that if it's convenient.

Americans (Yankees mostly) will say grits are bland. Well, maybe, but if so, it is the cook's fault. His job is to decide how to pair them based on the rest of the meal. Common adds are eggs, sausage, garlic, onion, various peppers or chiles, cheeses, shrimp, crayfish, dried meats, etc., ad infimum.

Then there are the "corn mush" traditions. My Pennsyltucky parents would put the cornmeal mush aside and fry it up for dessert with maple syrup. Italian neighbors would do something similar but with tomato sauce and such.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2017)

This the polenta grits I've been using for a few years.


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## Snip 13 (Jun 12, 2017)

jennyema said:


> "Maize Flour" to me means corn flour, which is not what you make polenta with ....



In South Africa maize meal is the same as Polenta and corn flour is used for thickening sauces. Different all over the world so it gets confusing.


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## Snip 13 (Jun 12, 2017)

Thank you for posting. I absolutely love polenta. We use mainly white maize meal in SA and the more popular yellow has all but vanished off supermarket shelves. Polenta is exactly the same as the yellow corn meal I grew up on. Was thrilled when I discovered it. Your method is also very much the same as the South African way of making it.


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## di reston (Jun 12, 2017)

Skiletlicker, your photo shows exactly what the quality, gritty polenta grits are like in Italy. Very interesting threads. Personally, I've always found that the gritty type of polenta flour is much better than anything else, and the more 'convenience' type doesn't give anything like as good a result. Loved reading your posts!

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast    Oscar Wilde


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2017)

The most common grits on the shelf where I shop is white hominy, nixtamalized corn, dried and coarsely ground. It doesn't have as much flavor as the yellow corn grits do.

I keep stone ground corn meal too but that's for cornbread and corncakes (corn pancakes).  Also, have masa harina on hand.

By the way, in the first post didn't mention filling the heavy pot with water before putting the mixing bowl on top. I'm sure you all recognized it as just a poor man's double boiler.


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