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The Polenta Revival Love it or Hate it! When I was four-years old, my Italian neighbor, John Pedine, topped polenta with the tentacles of the calamari (squid). I couldn’t watch when he squeezed the black ink out of the slimy squid. When he chewed the tentacles, it made a squishy sound that gave me goose bumps. Mr. Pedine also made my favorite polenta topped with |
| homemade tomatoes sauce, lentils, sweet sausage and grated cheese. On the feudal farms in southern Italy, polenta-mush made from yellow cornmeal was fed daily to the pigs. The Tree of the Clog, an excellent Italian movie with English subtitles, accurately portrayed the hopelessness of southern Italian peasant families. The feudal landlords gave the contadina (peasants) a daily ration of cornmeal, which usually was less than the amount fed to the pigs. The Italian peasant brought the art of making polenta to America. The cook would slowly pour the dry cornmeal into a big kettle of boiling salted water. With a long broomstick- like pole he would stir the polenta clockwise then counterclockwise to prevent lumps from forming. After the polenta thickened the strong cook lifted the heavy kettle and poured the polenta onto a thick rectangular wooden board. By holding one end of a string in the left hand and the other end of the string in the right hand the host would cut portions of the polenta. The person who was in good standing with the host received the largest portion. Others were served smaller portions In the movie, Matawan, Italian immigrants and African Americans banded together in a strike against the treacherous bosses of a major coal mining company in West Virginia. The strikers didn’t have any money and food was very scarce. A generous southern lady gave a bag of cornmeal to an Italian immigrant mother of several children. The southern lady became very angry when the Italian mother used the cornmeal to make polenta with rabbit instead of making cornbread. Today gourmet food stores carry instant polenta or rolled polenta-plain with basil and sun-dried tomatoes for about $3.99 a pound. Five-star restaurants feature polenta as an appetizer with various toppings (e.g.) five kinds of mushrooms, cheese and sausage. Mexican polenta in a microwave oven? My favorite polenta recipe ignores Italian tradition. No stirring and pouring for me. I microwave the polenta; pour the thick cornmeal into a lasagna pan. On top of the polenta I layer salsa, green chilies, black olives, cheddar cheese and scallions. Pop it back into the microwave until warm. BRAVO! Buon Apetite! The Gen Xers love it ! Microwave Polenta Recipe 4 cups cold water 1-cup corn meal ¾ teas. Salt Stir or mix above ingredients. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Stir again. Cook 3 more minutes. Stir again. Cook 4 more minutes. Pour into serving dish. Let stand 5 minutes. Then top with favorite sauce. |
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