Cornmeal that’s boiled into a kind of porridge and then eaten directly or baked, fried or grilled, (crostini di polenta or polenta fritta), polenta has in some version or another, been around since the Roman times.
It’s not exactly fast food though Traditionally it’s mixed with water and then cooked for around forty five minutes to gelatinise the starch, ideally in a copper bowl over a wood fire.
The copper is important as it’s a metal that spreads heat evenly, while the wood fire is perhaps more romantic than strictly necessary, although some of that gorgeous wood smoke aroma does of course seep in. Italian chefs also insist that you have to stir ceaselessly to keep the polenta from forming lumps.
But at the same time he knows it’s not universally adored across Italy.’It’s a good source of carbohydrate, but not one of our favourite things to use at Cafe Caldesi unless we are doing a particular food from an area where they eat polenta. I like it flavoured with Parmesan or rosemary. I am, I admit, liking it more since visiting Venice, where they are big polenta eaters, while researching our new book’.
There is an alternative; fast cook polenta made from processed cornmeal, but like most things that have been shortcutted this kind of polenta rarely tastes as good or has the same seductive silky texture. Some people even claim polenta can be made in a microwave, an idea which will send food purists into a lather of indignation.
Chef Theo Randall, of The Intercontinental one of Londod’s premier Italan restaurants, sees a future for polenta in the UK. ‘We do have it on the menu,’he says ‘and I think people are ordering it a lot more than they used to especially when truffles are grated on top. We do a dish with wet polenta, pan fried Scallops sage anchovy chilli and braised cima di rape which is always very popular. I think the Brits are finally coming round to it.’,
There is also a large expat Italian population in London desperate for a reliable polenta fix and most of them seemed crammed into La Polenteria when I visited recently. This new cafe/diner created by Cristina Sparcaci on Old Compton Street is London’s only restaurant dedicated to the grain and it’s a lively room with cheerful decorations and a polenta cooker down the stairs. Tables are small, but the idea is to recreate that crowded family kitchen where polenta is shared.
She’s not kidding, there is no other choice but polenta – a fact reminiscent of Monty Python’s Spam sketch. I had a starter of polenta moulded and layered with tomatoes and rosemary which was light, fresh and full of flavour, the polenta firm to deliver real bite.
A second course of boar ragu was on looser polenta, splatted onto the plate (polenta will not win any prizes for presentation) and it showed what polenta does so well – carry a sauce without overly intruding on it and delivering hunger-satisfying bulk. The ragu was deeply flavoured with a rich intensity that only comes from slow, careful cooking and reduction. The longer, the better.
I also tried Baccala’alla Vicentina, a classic salt cod dish on polenta that was a bit too fishy for my wussy tolerance, but which was cheerfully eaten by my wingman. Other choices included polenta with Sicilian caponata and Tuscan sausages with borlotti beans. The polenta obsession extends into desserts and sandwiches too and even breakfast polenta dishes such as polenta muffins and creamy polenta with blueberry maple Syrup.
So go against the grain and pop down to La Polenteria for something different for lunch or dinner this week.