{{Short description|Italian porridge, usually of cornmeal}} {{Other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Expand Italian|topic=cult|Polenta|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox food | name = Polenta | image = Cotechino-Servito-Polenta-Lenticchie.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Polenta served with boiled ''cotechino Modena'' (top) and lentils (bottom) | alternate_name = | country = Italy | region = Ticino, Northern and central Italy<ref name="Righi Parenti">{{cite book |last=Righi Parenti |first=Giovanni |date=2003 |orig-year=1995 |title=La cucina toscana |trans-title=Tuscan cuisine |chapter=Pisa, Lucca, Livorno |location=Rome |publisher=Newton & Compton |language=it |page=384 |isbn=88-541-0141-9}}</ref> | creator = | course = | type = Porridge | served = | main_ingredient = Yellow or white cornmeal, liquid (water, soup stock) | variations = }}
'''Polenta''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|ˈ|l|ɛ|n|t|ə|,_|p|oʊ|ˈ|-|}}, {{IPA|it|poˈlɛnta|lang}})<ref>{{DOP|lemma=polenta|id=1069038}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dipionline.it/dizionario/ |title=Dizionario di pronuncia italiana ''online'' |last1=Canepari |first1=Luciano |website=dipionline.it |access-date=12 February 2016 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009051700/http://www.dipionline.it/dizionario/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> is an Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or grilled.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/italian-food/italian-dishes/polenta-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-comfort-food-of-northern-italy |title=Polenta: All you Need to Know About the Comfort Food of Northern Italy |date=10 February 2023 |publisher=La Cucina Italiana |access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref>
The variety of cereal used is usually yellow maize, but often buckwheat, white maize or mixtures thereof may be used. Coarse grinds make a firm, coarse polenta; finer grinds make a soft, creamy polenta.<ref name="eatwell">{{cite web|url=http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/polenta_cooking.html|title=Polenta – How to Cook Polenta|work=mangiabenepasta.com|access-date=28 September 2015|archive-date=9 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709151951/http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/polenta_cooking.html|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Polenta is a staple of both northern and, to a lesser extent, central Italian, Swiss Italian, southern French, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian, Romanian and, due to Italian migrants, Brazilian, Uruguayan, and Argentinian cuisines. It is often mistaken for the Slovene-Croatian food named ''žganci''.<ref name="Righi Parenti" /> Its consumption was traditionally associated with lower classes, as in times past cornmeal mush was an essential food in their everyday nutrition.<ref name="primiditalia">{{cite web|url=http://www.iprimiditalia.it/proposito_primi_singola.php?&idcat=126|title=La storia della polenta|website=I primi d'Italia|language=it|trans-title=The history of polenta|access-date=31 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202110652/http://www.iprimiditalia.it/proposito_primi_singola.php?&idcat=126|archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> [[File:Polenta.jpg|thumb|250px|Polenta served in the traditional manner on a round wooden cutting board]] thumb|250px|''Polenta in paiolo''
==Etymology== Polenta covered any hulled and crushed grain, especially barley-meal. It is derived from the Latin {{lang|la|pollen}} for 'fine flour', which shares a root with ''pulvis'', meaning 'dust'.<ref name="OED">''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd edition, 2006, [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/146807 ''s.v.''].</ref>
==History== As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier forms of grain mush (known as {{lang|la|puls}} or {{lang|la|pulmentum}} in Latin) that were commonly eaten since Roman times. Before the introduction of corn (maize) from America in the 16th century,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://repository.cimmyt.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10883/3026/89371.pdf |journal=Maydica |volume=51 |year=2006 |pages=281–291 |title=More on the Introduction of Temperate Maize into Europe: Large-Scale Bulk SSR Genotyping and New Historical Elements |first=P. |last=Dubreuil |display-authors=etal |hdl = 10883/3026 }}</ref> it was made from starchy ingredients, such as farro, chestnut flour, millet, spelt, and chickpeas.<ref name="zeldes">{{cite web | last = Zeldes | first = Leah A. | title = Eat this! Polenta, a universal peasant food | work = Dining Chicago | publisher = Chicago's Restaurant & Entertainment Guide, Inc. | date = 2010-11-03 | url = http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2010/11/03/eat-this-polenta-a-universal-peasant-food/ | access-date = 2011-05-18 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2010-12-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101230103443/http://www.diningchicago.com/blog/2010/11/03/eat-this-polenta-a-universal-peasant-food/ }}</ref>
Polenta was brought to the south of Brazil by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and has become an important part of Italian-Brazilian culture and identity in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná.<ref name="Paraná Portal">{{cite web | last = Sganzerla | first = Eduardo | title = Polenta, história e identidade cultural. Veja receitas | date = 2021-12-17 | url = https://paranaportal.uol.com.br/gente/a-historia-da-polenta-revistada-veja-receitas | access-date = 2023-08-03}}</ref> The fried version, though, has become popular even in other regions that did not receive Italian migration and is a popular snack and finger food in bars across the country.<ref name="Globo Rural">{{cite web| title = Como fazer polenta frita para petisco | date = 2022-11-24 | url = https://globorural.globo.com/vida-na-fazenda/receitas/noticia/2022/11/como-fazer-polenta-frita-para-petisco.ghtml | access-date = 2023-08-03}}</ref>
==Cooking time== {{Refimprove section|date=October 2024}} thumb|Sorghum-meal polenta with soup stock in center 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) 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.<ref>{{cite web | last = Delaney | first = Alex | date = 2017-12-12 | title = What is the difference between grits and polenta? | website = bonappetit.com | url = https://www.bonappetit.com/story/difference-grits-polenta?srsltid=AfmBOoqwX2x4QrBvXVyD8Q5_1_ta9_xVFlub-mTMQiqnFFDfIhC3Q8Ad | access-date = 2024-10-04 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> In ''Heat'' (2006)<ref name=Buford-2006/> Bill 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?" — {{harvp|Buford|2006}}<ref name=Buford-2006>{{cite book | last = Buford | first = Bill | author-link = Bill Buford | year = 2006 | title = Heat | publisher = Alfred A. Knopf | location = New York, NY | page = [https://archive.org/details/heatamateursadve00bufo_0/page/150 150] | isbn = 1-4000-4120-1 | url = https://archive.org/details/heatamateursadve00bufo_0/page/150 | via = Internet Archive | url-access = registration }}</ref>
In January 1998 ''Cook's Illustrated'' magazine described a preparation method using a microwave oven, that reduces cooking time to 12 minutes and requires only a single stir.<ref>{{cite magazine | first1 = Christopher | last1 = Kimball | author1-link = Christopher Kimball | last2=Yanagihara | first2=Dawn | date=January 1998 | title = The microwave chronicles | magazine = Cook's Illustrated | page = 11 }}</ref> The March 2010 issue presented a nearly-unstirred stovetop method, which replicates the traditional method using a pinch of baking soda (an alkali).<ref>{{cite magazine | first = Christopher | last = Kimball | author-link = Christopher Kimball | date=March 2010 | title = Creamy parmesan polenta | magazine = Cook's Illustrated }}</ref>
==See also== {{Commons category-inline|Polentas}} {{Cookbook-inline}} {{Portal|Italy|Food}} * List of maize dishes * List of porridges
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * Brandolini, Giorgio V., ''Storia e gastronomia del mais e della patata nella Bergamasca'', Orizzonte Terra, Bergamo, 2007. 32 pages. * Eynard, W., ''La cucina valdese'', Claudiana, 2006. {{refend}}
{{Corn}} {{Lombard cuisine}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Cuisine of Lombardy Category:Italian inventions Category:Maize dishes Category:Porridges Category:Food in ancient Rome