Hi Eva, You’re a treasure! This polenta video was long overdue. For many years my polenta always turned out clumpy. My mistake was I had the water at a full boil when pouring in the ground corn; the trick that solved the clumpiness was to have simmering water instead. Thanks for another exceptional video!
Actually, the difference between grits and corn meal is much greater than just the color. True, grits are traditionally white, but they're made from hominy which is corn treated with lime water or lye. The process is called nixtamalization and was known by the Myans. It does several things, including freeing niacin, thus preventing pellagra. Along with ordinary beans, a human can survive on these two foods. And it allows the processed corn to be made into a dough for further processing into things like masa used for making tortillias. Regular cornmeal will not form a dough with the addition of water. Nixtamalization also helps prevent the formation of mold.
Yes. I've read that the explorers who brought maize/corn over did not also bring over the knowledge of nixtamalization. The northerners, who ate polenta much more than the southerners, developed a niacin deficiency that limited their mental abilities. The southerners called the northerners "polentoni," which was a derogatory appellation, as a result. Nowadays, people avoid the deficiency problem by eating it with cheese, or milk, meat sauce, lentils, chickpeas, etc., which provides the necessary amino acids, complementing the polenta.
@@sharonstrickland6421 in the south we eat both but I’d say we use yellow for supper and white for breakfast. You can also find red grits, purple grits, and mixed grits that contains more than one variety, usually white and yellow together.
In my family you had the three stages of polenta: first the freshly made and soft polenta. Then the leftovers were cut into slices and toasted on a plate or on the grill (like bruschetta). The parts that were not toasted were sautéed in a pan with butter and covered with sugar. Also in my town (Mantova) leftover polenta is used to make a "pancake" called "Fiapon". My grandparentes used to told me me how polenta was the food of the poor in the toughest times. For dinner they ate slices which they gave a little flavor by rubbing them on a smoked herring (Cospeton) and they also usually eat polenta for breakfast in the milk.
And the smoked herring was hanging from the ceiling! You can also dip your leftover butter fried polenta in the milk for breakfast. Mantova has a lot of tricks for eating polenta.
Damian, good information, thank you. Do they prepared it from corn kernels? Do they know or knew the process to ground the corn, would they use lime to boil and let it cure the grain?
PASTA GRAMMARIAN IN ACTION; My daughter had a dozen ears of 2-year-old decorative corn, a mix deep red, some yellow, black,and white that she asked if I wanted to put in the compost heap. It was clean, dry, and still wholesome (dried corn lasts for years) I rubbed the kernels off of the cobs and got about 1 1/2 pounds of corn. I ran it through my Country Living grain mill on a coarse setting and used it to make polenta with butter, Swiss (no smoked mozzarella on hand) and parmigiana regiano (from Costco) I spread it in a 9 x 13 pan chilled for 4 hours (it was PINK!) pan fried it until golden brown, topped it with my own marinara sauce, an olive tapenade with plenty of chopped Kalamata olives and fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Thanks for the inspiration to try something new!
Romanians have had polenta (we call it mămăligă) as a staple food for centuries, using a different type of grain (buckwheat or millet) prior to corn. I have visited northern Italy recently and discovered that Italian polenta uses a less processed type of corn flour/ground corn, has a more rustic and grain-y taste than ours ; we use a very ”pure” processed maize, few impurities.
Yes, especially in Transilvania, its very common. My fav breakfast was mamaliga filled with cheese, topped with sour cream . The other is polenta balls, filled with cheese then baked. Its in the cookbook of Alexandra Georgescu.
My best friend is Romanian and last year we went to Romania for a week. I absolutely loved the food, we were in the country side in the region near Moldova and everything was so fresh, I ate so much polenta with cheese. And yeah it tastes a bit different than Italian polenta
Polenta was a staple growing up. My family is from Lammari, just outside of Lucca. When my wife and I went to Italy and spent a whole week in Toscana the food just felt so much like home, only better!
I never understood polenta until now, can't wait to try some of these! Corn products are naturally gluten free but the package label lets the buyer know that it is processed separately from wheat and tested so that there's no cross contamination.
I grew up in Charleston, S.C. And of course growing up on the south I'm quite familiar with grits and corn meal. The difference between corn meal and grits is corn meal is just ground corn, but grits is turned first into hominy before its ground. Also, in S.C. you can buy yellow grits because some folks just like the yellow better which was common years ago. However, when groceries began to be created enmass by conglomerates they pretty much stopped making the yellow for a time. However, there's now a mill in Charleston that makes the yellow grits.
Glad someone contributed this. Grits from hominy taste quite different from yellow corn meal. Thank you, Edward. I am Canadian but learned to love hominy grits and polenta in turn.
Edward could you explain the process of then corn kernels in both the corn meal, and de grits. In my country, mexico to be able to grind the dry corn, we have to boil or cook the corn in water and lime , and let it stand all night in order to separate the skins and get softer, then we mild it. Is the same with you corn meal, polenta grits? And what you mean with you have to turned into homeny before ? Thanks in advance, hope you coul answe my question. . Stay well, and happy,
Edward, uhhh... this doesn’t make sense. You say the difference between corn meal and grits is corn meal is just ground corn, and grits is first turned into “hominy” before it is ground... but when I look up “hominy “ for grits, it straight up says “coarsely ground corn used to make grits.” So you basically said “grits is first coarsely ground up corn before it gets ground.” You agree that is nonsensical, yes? 🙃 Did you mean to say that corn meal is simply ground down more to be a finer size than grits?
My understanding is similar to what Griselda said. Dried corn is soaked in a lye solution and the outer coating comes away. The result is hominy. This is what is used in dishes like posole. The hominy is dried and then ground, giving hominy grits. If the corn were to be cooked before being dried and ground it would be arepa flour which is used in Colombian or Bolivian style tortillas while uncooked finely ground cornmeal, harina, is used in Mexican-style torillas.
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In all their videos, I admire how Eva just gets on with it. She doesn’t gild the lily like so many gushing RUclips presenters who end up hiding behind their ‘twist’ on everything. Brava Eva, brava.
Fried Mush is a Southern US analog, where leftover corn grits (or boiled cornmeal) are often left to cool and congeal. It is then sliced, dredged in flour, drenched in beaten egg, pan-fried, and served with maple syrup, honey, molasses, or sorghum syrup.
I had mush for breakfast and to me it was a treat. My family is German and English of Germanic origin. So I'm not sure where my grandma learned how to make it but we had it . So sad things like this are way sided in modern America. Man this brought back memories. I wish my granny were alive today. What a sweet woman.
I'm from Campania (from a small town near Aversa, in the province of Caserta) and my great grandma and my grandma used to make polenta in the early morning, to feed the men of the family that were going to work in the fields. They thought it would give them the energy they needed in order to endure many hours of work. When I was a kid, sometimes we had some special "polenta evenings" with the whole family, especially in the winter. That polenta was creamy and loose, it had a very fine texture and my grandma put in it the same stuff everytime: some fried "cicoli" (small pieces of solid pork fat), small pieces of aged pecorino cheese, small pieces of dry aged sausages and black pepper. The perfect comfort food.
I haven't had polenta with sauce in years...you brought me back to my grandmothers table (yes from Calabria too), thank you. Ok off to the store to get what I need to have this tonight. Hugs and hugs! ❤🧡❤
I'm Italian (from Napoli) and never cooked polenta because, you know, it's rare here to eat polenta. With this I can do it properly and start discovering this dish.
Io anche Campania (provincia di Salerno, ma residente qui in Germania) ricordo che mia nonna faceva ogni tanto la polenta. La cosa che ricordo con più piacere e che mi mandava letteralmente in estasi, era grattare dentro la padella quella parte che rimaneva un po’ attaccata al fondo della padella. Non lo dimenticherò mai !
In Naples (i came from napoli too) you can find polenta in Friggitoria, a traditional Fryed dish is "scagliozzi" or "tittoli" , fryed triangle of polenta.....
Ehm in Irpinia fanno la pizza di granturco, una sorta di polenta fritta. Mia nonna che è di un paese dell'area nolana ai piedi del Partenio lo fa, anche se molto raramente.
that's odd. my late father and nonni were from provincia di salerno ( a couple of hours more south) in the mountains of Monte San Giacomo and 'pocchia' (polenta) was a staple esp. in cucina povera
That’s odd, my family in Abruzzo does eat polenta, though not that frequently. I dunno if maybe Abruzzo is where Polentaland starts lmao, or maybe my folks are just weird
I’m from the North of Italy and my grandma used to make polenta for the whole family almost every weekend in the winter, at 85 she would stir it for 45-50 minutes non stop (and it gets hard pretty much as soon as it starts absorbing some of the water!) and when it was ready she would always have some in a cup with warm milk as a treat for her hard work. My brother and I loved eating it with granulated sugar or Nutella as a dessert. I feel like my childhood would not have been the same without this dish, it is so comforting to me. Sorry Eva I will never try it with ragù because it feels like betrayal to me lol
An Italian friend made polenta like yours and put it in a shallow pan. When it was cooled, she cut it into slices and grilled them and served them with mushroom ragu. Delicious.
Thank you for this recipe! My great grandmother was from Reggio Amelia and she never wrote down recipes and her version was like the first recipe. My grandma always wanted polenta that thick, but I didn’t figure it out to make it for her with the right texture. She loved the leftover slices fried crisp in butter with eggs for breakfast. Now I can make it in her honor the correct way. ❤
Any time you ask a question that starts with “Would you guys like a video of Eva..” and ends with really anything she learned to do in Italy, the answer is YES.
Thank you for the shout out! That was unexpected and fun. :) I'm looking forward to trying your polenta recipes - they look delicious! Thanks for another great video.
So, even this time you taught me something new, Eva! I'm from Rome but in my family we always (when the supermarket has it) choose the taragna, as we like it better than the finer kinds. To keep it light and because I'm vegetarian, we (sadly) skip the cheese or the meat and usually cook it with a tomato sauce seasoned only with onion, rosemary and parmesan, or we make a earthier mushroom tomato sauce, preferably with porcini. My mum has part of her family from Borgomanero, in Piedmont, and remembering her times there as a kid when I was younger she also used to prepare polenta with 'tapulone', which is a traditional extremely finely chopped white stew with cabbage from that area. But today thanks to you and Harper I discover polenta with broccoli 😋!!! I'm going to make it asap and I'm sure it's going to become a favourite in my family! Thanks 😘!
Here in Brazil we make all kinds of polenta - we also have many types of grounded corn, so you can make polentas with many different textures. We also have angu. Angu is similar to polenta, but made with a very finely textured cornflour called fubá. Some people add the fubá to the water still cold, mix well and only then take it to the fire to cook, mixing all the time to avoid clumps.
Absolutely wonderful!!! I learned a lot about polenta (which I love eating)...Eva - you really should be awarded a doctorate in Italian food and cooking. I am so envious of your knowledge.
In the deep South, in southwest Georgia for instance. We use yellow corn to make grits, primarily coarse ground for grits. I can validate this as I've lived here all my life, still on our 150 year old family farm. Love ya'lls content!
It’s not just the Deep South. Many people in the south made grits with yellow corn that they took to a mill. Mass manufactured grits use white corn or hominy.
I discovered your channel nearly three weeks ago and have been binge watching ever since. My partner and I adore you two, Eva is our newfound culinary hero. The dishes we have tried are amazing. Thanks so much for educating all of us on how to cook like proper Italians! ♥
There's also a polenta dish called toc, traditional of the mountain area above Bellagio, on Como lake. They cook polenta for hours adding kilos of butter and cheese regularly. The result is a very smooth and elastic polenta people eat with a spoon out of the pot, you take a spoonfull and make a small ball with your hands before eating it. Usually people eat it with meat and sottaceti.
Noi in Friuli la tagliamo a fette e l'arrostiamo per accompagnare pesce o carne(poi la facciamo anche"pasticciata" con formaggio di malga,funghi ed erba cipollina),provare per godere!😁😋
I've watched some of your videos in the past and enjoyed them very much, but the thoroughness of this video has finally pushed me to subscribe to your channel. I like the chemistry you have and the ease with which Eva cooks. Bravi e grazie!
Thank you for this! It made me feel so connected to my family that passed! My nonna used to have "polenta parties" with the other Italian immigrants in the neighborhood, and my mom has never taught me because of how much work it is to make. This was so wonderful! I'll be able to make my nonna proud ❤️
The substitution with fontina in the taragna, if you can’t find Casera or Bitto, is perfectly fine. Any really fat cheese will do. Also, try making it with vegetable broth instead of water! Milk will also work very nicely. Smashing video, thanks for covering one of my favorite foods!
I'm Slovenian- American and we make polenta, but it's made from corn flour (not cornmeal, which is too coarse) or buckwheat and it's not a porridge. It's moldable (you can make disks with a cleaned tuna can) and served with things like goulash. 🤷🏻♀️ I eat it plain with some butter, too. And now, it's 3am and I want some!!!
OMG you made it just like my Italian grandma made it when you did it with the pork ribs and sauce. She made everything from scratch. Oh I miss her food! You are so lucky to have Ava make you this good food for you! My grandma's family was from central Italy so this method with the ragu is correct! It warms my heart when I watch Ava cook the way my grandma did. ❤️
Back home in Uruguay we eat as much polenta as the italians simply because ,at some point in time, there were as many italians as locals in there. Obviously that historical fact brought a lot of culinary new ideas to a nation that lives mainly on red meat. Fresh pasta (ravioli,cappelletti,tortellini, etc) is purchased in what we call "pasta factories" every sunday, specially in winter, some people use to make them at home, an almost lost custom today. Corn meal is as cheap as rice or dry pasta in there and polenta was always a welcomed variation on the poor's people diet. Generally is served with a heavy pasta sauce on top with chunks of beef and sausage ;any leftover (without the sauce) was served as breakfast with sugar and milk the next morning (sort of a latino version of Corn Flakes if you will). Amazing recipes guys, keep they coming please. Greetings from Toronto.
My Mom a great Italian cook would never use polenta because she lived on it during the depression years and will not cook it to this day ! I do want to try it and will try your recipes.
Similarly, my Mom grew up in a German town in Romania, and she said they had polenta with cheese almost daily. Once they left Europe, she didn’t want to eat it again, and she never made it for us growing up, so I had to discover it on my own. But I really like it! Thanks for this interesting video!
@@fasullodavvero Mia madre ha 94 anni e viveva nella parte povera della città, ma aveva una buona famiglia e mi ha dato una vita fantastica. Ma lei non cucinava la polenta e mi raccontava di mangiarla da piccola essendo povera. Grazie.
Polenta is a staple in my family, my grandparents were from Val di Chiese. We use yellow corn, I grow and grind it myself. We add potatoes, fried (in butter)onions and cheese. I still have my great grandfathers polenta pot which is made copper and his Trissa, a wooden paddle.
Sono friulana, da noi la polenta si mangia in diversi modi, appena fatta quindi ancora morbida con carne (costa, spezzatino...) fatti in padella con salsa, spezie... Prendendo la polenta morbida e nel piatto versare sopra il sugo della carne e mangiare tutto assieme. O una volta fredda tagliata a fette, arrostita sulla piastra e accompagnata dalla classica grigliata, o ancora la polenta pasticciata con vari tipi di formaggio saporito che si fonde. Una bontà da provare
Bergamasco fan reporting: Fontina as a change is approved for the polenta taragna :) Otherwise use an older Taleggio. Firm and strong, it still melts very well in it :)
No no no no no! Signora Eva! Il filo per tagliare la polenta dov'è? Si racconta ancora, almeno si ricorda, tra i sopravvissuti della mia generazione, della famiglia intera morta di fame per mancanza del filo per tagliare la polenta seppur pronta, calda calda, sul tagliere. Filo doppio, teso tra i due indici e passato al di sotto e tirato su a raggiera. Un accessorio semplice ma indispensabile.
I don’t know if it’s just in Rome or it is just the “quartiere”, but when we put the meat sauce and the parmigiano on top, we also sprinkle a bit of olive oil!
I appreciate this post! Polenta is so underused and misunderstood, and so useful. I make "bars" of it i cover like bruschetta, and they freeze beautifully and are so easy to refresh warm when you need a small bit before dinner.
In Austria polenta was very common among (poor) farmers. They needed a heavy but cheap dish because of their hard work. So polenta was mostly the first choice with loads of lard and some crispy speckcubes (speck on sundays only of course!). In my humble opinion not very tasty but it worked.
Feel so lucky to have grown up eating polenta all the time. We always had polenta taragna. We and our family in italy also cut in mashed potatoes sometimes, and sometimes dont add the buckwheat grain. Any kind of soft mild cheese would go in. There are several different kinds of ragus to serve it under, usually small salami meatballs in white milk sauce. When i lived in nyc, i often went to a restaurant where they grilled polenta slices that had green olives sliced inside. Actually very good.
One of my favorite tuscan recipes is farinata colle leghe, which is a soup made with beans and kale (or bietole) in which you boil some polenta. Make a soffritto with pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, and a garlic clove. Parboil some white or borlotti beans, cut in strips and parboil the kale (if you use other greens you can skip this passage), add meat stock, the beans, the kale, and some of the beans cooking water to the soffritto, check for salt abd pepper,then add some fioretto flour and cook until very creamy. When it's hot it is a thick soup, the leftovers become hard, and can be sliced and fried.
It reminds me of the Dutch Griesmeelpap. Semolina Durum wheat cooked with milk, sugar, and ground almonds (or almond extract). My wife loves it when I make it.
In my town in Tuscany we have one called "polenta ficca" made mixing polenta with the leftover of another typical dish we have: cabbage and borlotti bean soup... it's a must during winter time 😋😋😋 Another amazing and in my opinion the yummiest way to cook polenta (I hoped you included in today's video!) is to make slices with the lefrovers and fry them... we called them "polentine" and in Tuscany we eat them with fegatini di pollo, oh my gosh 🥴🥴🥴
I just watched your polenta show. I was born in Pescara, Italy (Abruzzo). We did the polenta with the meat sauce. My girl friend was from Calabrian and also prepared it with meat sauce. My favorite. Thanks for the great memories. I am making it soon.
I used Mangia Bedda's advice and made the Taragna in the oven 400deg for 1hr. Added the butter and cheese at the end. Turned out much better than expected.
My family is from the Ticinese region of Switzerland. The small village of Mierra in the hills above Lugano. We always put our polenta in a bowl before cooking and top it with a small handful of salt which represents the snow covered mountains. We never, ever make it with water. We used milk, carefully scalding the milk without burning it. We only added water if it gets too thick too fast. It is cooked continually stirring for about 45 minutes. Never stop stirring. At the end of cooking, off of the fire, we would add a small amount of butter to be stirred in. Once it was set fairly well we turn the copper pot out onto a round woven polenta basket that can be soaked in water to prevent the polenta from sticking to it. It was very rustic and not the creamy polenta you see here in America. These days I often dump it out onto a wet towel so that I can pull the corners up a bit while it sets. The smoke from cooking in a hanging pot over a fire give’s it a unique flavor. Paired with Italian sweet sausages it is so dreamy. I always get a laugh when i see it here in the US on menus as a luxury item…it is cucina povera! My dad fed it to the pigs.
I've always loved eating polenta it's hardy and a satisfing comfort food that sticks to your ribs Have found a really good polenta meal at the farmers market..." Wild hive farm" from upstate N.Y. cooked slow in the oven...yummmmchefs kiss!!
Grandpa always made the super thick polenta, formed it into a brick, there was a lot of butter involved, mozzarella stirred in and generally some kind of red sauce over it. Unless it was for breakfast, then it was no cheese, sliced, pan fried on both sides, and syrup.
My family immigrated from Northern Italy (Veneto). Polenta was always cooked like your first version. Also, the wooden spoon and the string/thread to cut it were important! We always, and still do, have it with a chicken cacciatore type dish. Although, I'm told small birds were common to have with polenta.
My father used to make a very thick and course polenta like you made in this video. After it is finished cooking, he would dish it into a loaf pan and let it cool in the refrigerator, maybe two hours. Then you slice the polenta cake into thick slices, maybe 20 cm (1-1.5 in.). The slices are then fried until golden brown on all sides. They are delicious by themselves or you can dip into unsweetened applesauce with ground cinnamon, or mascarpone with chopped chives and course ground, black pepper, maybe a dash of pepperoncini. Enjoy! PS: Eva, love the new hair color with the highlights. Very flattering to your skin tone.
In southern Brazil polenta is a very common dish, because of the many italian immigrants we had over the years. The consistency is usually like the central italian polenta, but we also cook smoked pork ribs and sausages in the polenta, like the calabria one does with vegetables. It tastes amazing. Something else that is very common here, is once the polenta is cold and firm, we cut it into strips and deep fry them. Best. Dish. Ever.
during winter, my grandfather would cook grits until they were as thick as is shown in this video and spread it onto a plate and place the plate outside in his screened in porch and let it cool....then slice it like a pie and serve it covered with very hot pot roast gravy (no roux or flour added, just the liquid from the meat). It was AMAZING.
Oh the memories this brings back! I’m almost in tears thinking of my late mother, while from southern Friuli (very near Venice), her polenta was always very creamy, liquid-like. Holidays, and Easter in particular, were stewed rabbit served over polenta.
@@veraemma7738 she never called it that. But it was rabbit, braised in wine, some tomato sauce (but not much), and possibly stock, with pickling spices, with all of that poured onto a bed of polenta.
@@jpp7783 I ask because I come from the same part of Friuli and we use to make polenta and rabbit served with peverada, which is made with chicken liver, pepper and spices.
Bramata for ever! Saluti dall'Italia. Io ho trovato un braccino elettrico che si applica al paiolo e gira la polenta da solo per ore. Fantastico. Le fettine si possono friggere e farci sciogliere sopra la fontina.
Had this for the first time in Pratola Peligna in a 600 year old home. Made on a wood fire stirred and poured onto boards, then tomato sauce, boar sausage. Homemade table wine and Linocello. It was Abruzzo magic
Love it!!! Every couple months we'd all get together and the aunts would make the polenta. Half served with the ragu and the other half would have the cured sausages cut up and fried in extra virgin olive oil and the polenta would get sprinkled with Pecorino on top, amazing! Between this video and all the pictures of the family harvesting the olives right now, I'm getting so hungry hahaha.
That is such an amazing memory of my childhood, when mia nonna was making the polenta for 30 people of the family and mio nonno was cutting with the cotton thread, was such a massive polenta, my favorite memory eating as a kid, was dicing and eating with milk, such a good one.
My family is from north east Italy.We make it like a cake consistency.Sometimes we have it with a ragu, or sometimes plain with jam.I love d all the different ways you made it.They all looked good
Haven't had it in at least 20 years. I remember Nana making it and I was given the simple job to "KEEP STIRRING IT!!" 😆 I actually have a box of Colavita polenta mix in the cupboard that I bought last winter. I'll have to look for the Moretti brand. I can't remember what we used when I was a kid. Sounds like a good meal for this coming week! I'll be making some red sauce tomorrow with venison and sausage. That will go very well with it, I'm sure!
In Uruguay, we usually make polenta with a meat sauce. In my home, it used to be sheep or lamb meat, sausage if available, and panceta (bacon). But in some places here, it is also common to prepare it as a shepard's pie using polenta instead of mashed potatoes and using a meat filling, other times just ham and cheese, and even sauté vegetables like spinach or chard.
In my early 20’s I invented a very tasty dish: Eggs in Purgatory served over Crispy Polenta Cakes. I swear, it worked out very well. The eggs were a little over, but I was young. The sauce was rich and spicy, and the polenta was full of parmigiano reggiano, herbs, and salt/pepper, fried in pork fat. After frying, it was still so soft, it almost failed to hold its shape. I was so proud of myself, and I am still proud, of that young woman. 🤗🤗💐💋 I did all of that, without even one recipe. I was guessing, from watching food shows, and foods I had eaten.🤘🏻 Yes, it was Valentines’ Day, and I was trying to impress an atctual cook/chef person.💋
Then, you can still add your toppings as you would normally. I understand tradition ... but I've realized that cooking is an art form ... you can make any dish your own. Just watching you guys cook is a testament this idea.
Thank you guys for showing us the polenta dishes from the different regions of Italy! I am used to the meat sauce version but can't wait to try the other dishes!!
I had wild boar with polenta in a mountain village in Piemonte. It was wonderful! The boar was seasoned with rosemary and juniper berries, and since that time I started making my pot roast that way.
This brings back fond memories hiking through the Alps in Valle D'Aosta and stopping at refuges where they routinely served camoscio e polenta. And nice warm-me-up on cold days. Especially when coupled with some vin brulé.
Polentona here (Bresciana)! Thank you for this video. I commented some time ago under one of your videos if you'd mention the different types of corn meal that can be found in ordinary American supermarkets and how Eva thinks they compare to polenta (some were saying grits and polenta are the same thing). I used to live in Colorado (many years ago) and only could find corn meal suitable for Mexican dishes. I was wondering whether these days there was more available in your average grocery store.
My Father had a special pan and stirring stick that I still use today, he would flip it out of the pan just like a cake and cut it with a string. My family was from a small village outside of Lucca and their food was very simple.
I adore the gift of Italy to the world. Mama mia Polenta! I like to cut up the polenta the day after if have made it [and I add grated real Parm to it right after I cook it, stir up, wow what that adds to the polenta] I cut it into "fingers" and saute it or you can bake it in the oven, until very brown and crispy. Very very delicious. I also have baked vegetables into polenta: red/gold peppers, artichokes, asparagus, any and all types of slice mushrooms, thin sliced red potatoes and more [even prosciutto]. It looks a bit like a pizza, but tastes like its wonderful self. Thanks for the segment on Polenta, Regina di Carbs!!!
Eva, he's right on this one... why not?! I enjoyed learning more about polenta. When I was a kid my mom would make the first polenta you made, cut it into blocks and then sauteed with olive oil and little bit of garlic. It was so crispy and tasty. I love polenta all ways and I can't wait to make a Calabrian version.
I go even further, I grow my own corn to grind for polenta. I grow a variety called Floriani, which was bred in northern Italy especially for polenta, and it is amazing.
I love learning new things about my Italian culture. My family, from Puglia , never made polenta but as a young adult in New York City I was exposed to it and have come to love it! Thank you for showing us these wonderful variations and yes please more recipes for polenta! Looking forward to the dessert one especially. Thank you again.
Imagine that in Valtellina eat Polenta taragna with stew!! So heavy!! In Tuscany we use to eat It with stew or with mushrooms (porcini made in a special way with garlic and nepitella) or even as a First course with ragù and parmesan...traditionally Is also used to make a soup with beans and black cabbage 🙂
My Nonna Antoinetta made it soft (Abbruzzo), my Nonna Rosina (Venezia) cooked it exactly like the first one in your video. I love both, but prefer the firm one. I have never seen the buckwheat polenta or Calabrese style (both look so delicious). I'm learning so much from Eva's cooking.
I make polenta to go with chili, I make it early so when its time to eat I slice the polenta, and fry to reheat, its delicious crispy on the outside and soft inside.
E questo lo scrivo in Italiano 🙂, da bambino era usanza mettere la polenta sulla "spianatora" (una grande tavola di legno) dove, al centro, c'erano salcicce e spuntature. Per poterle mangiare, era obbligatorio mangiare la polenta fino ad arrivare al centro, creando una sorta di strada. Ovviamente c'era la gara per arrivare al "premio"!
I just wanted to say thank you for your help with Polenta! My mother used to make it for us when we were kids and I hated it! But, it was a consistency issue. It was too smooth. I also didn't know you could put things in it so I finely chopped some onion & garlic, sauteed it and finished it with some Fontina cheese and it was so good, I'm going to make it again! The coarse grind was a real game changer. I'd send you a picture, but I don't know how. Sorry! Un caloroso grazie di cuore!
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
We hope you guys learned something new about polenta with us today! What ingredient should we cover the basics of next?
a. The aperitivo table: a little something to eat while you enjoy with a drink.
b. After meal amari.
c. Olives snacks and dishes.
Funghi porcini!
With Fall in the air, I'd love to see Mushrooms 🍄❤️
Hi Eva, You’re a treasure! This polenta video was long overdue.
For many years my polenta always turned out clumpy. My mistake was I had the water at a full boil when pouring in the ground corn; the trick that solved the clumpiness was to have simmering water instead.
Thanks for another exceptional video!
Hi guys could you make tripe in its many versions, accommodata genovese,Tuscany, Roman, Sicilian and certainly Calabrian style😉
Actually, the difference between grits and corn meal is much greater than just the color. True, grits are traditionally white, but they're made from hominy which is corn treated with lime water or lye. The process is called nixtamalization and was known by the Myans. It does several things, including freeing niacin, thus preventing pellagra. Along with ordinary beans, a human can survive on these two foods. And it allows the processed corn to be made into a dough for further processing into things like masa used for making tortillias. Regular cornmeal will not form a dough with the addition of water. Nixtamalization also helps prevent the formation of mold.
so cool
Yes. I've read that the explorers who brought maize/corn over did not also bring over the knowledge of nixtamalization. The northerners, who ate polenta much more than the southerners, developed a niacin deficiency that limited their mental abilities. The southerners called the northerners "polentoni," which was a derogatory appellation, as a result. Nowadays, people avoid the deficiency problem by eating it with cheese, or milk, meat sauce, lentils, chickpeas, etc., which provides the necessary amino acids, complementing the polenta.
@roberto bravo sir… bravo! Excellent and efficient explanation!
Grits can be made with either white or yellow corn. Southern states prefer white corn meal. Other parts of the country prefer yellow corn
@@sharonstrickland6421 in the south we eat both but I’d say we use yellow for supper and white for breakfast. You can also find red grits, purple grits, and mixed grits that contains more than one variety, usually white and yellow together.
My dad was from Abruzzo and you brought tears to my eyes serving polenta on the wood board. Great memories eating it with tripe! Molto grazie!!
Eating it with tripe so delicious.Thank you
In my family you had the three stages of polenta: first the freshly made and soft polenta.
Then the leftovers were cut into slices and toasted on a plate or on the grill (like bruschetta). The parts that were not toasted were sautéed in a pan with butter and covered with sugar.
Also in my town (Mantova) leftover polenta is used to make a "pancake" called "Fiapon".
My grandparentes used to told me me how polenta was the food of the poor in the toughest times. For dinner they ate slices which they gave a little flavor by rubbing them on a smoked herring (Cospeton) and they also usually eat polenta for breakfast in the milk.
In Milan there's polenta pasticciata for leftovers. Basically imagine a lasagna or a timballo, but with polenta slices instead of pasta.
And the smoked herring was hanging from the ceiling!
You can also dip your leftover butter fried polenta in the milk for breakfast. Mantova has a lot of tricks for eating polenta.
Cuspitun FTW! (Mantovani nel mondo.)
@@mimnbo86 that is also done in Milano.
Damian, good information, thank you. Do they prepared it from corn kernels? Do they know or knew the process to ground the corn, would they use lime to boil and let it cure the grain?
PASTA GRAMMARIAN IN ACTION; My daughter had a dozen ears of 2-year-old decorative corn, a mix deep red, some yellow, black,and white that she asked if I wanted to put in the compost heap. It was clean, dry, and still wholesome (dried corn lasts for years) I rubbed the kernels off of the cobs and got about 1 1/2 pounds of corn. I ran it through my Country Living grain mill on a coarse setting and used it to make polenta with butter, Swiss (no smoked mozzarella on hand) and parmigiana regiano (from Costco) I spread it in a 9 x 13 pan chilled for 4 hours (it was PINK!) pan fried it until golden brown, topped it with my own marinara sauce, an olive tapenade with plenty of chopped Kalamata olives and fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Thanks for the inspiration to try something new!
Abruzzo heritage here, and I LOVE polenta with sausage sauce and pecorino romano!! 🤩
My family is also from Abruzzo. 🥰🥰🥰
My family is from pescara abruzzo and ascoli piceno marches
Romanians have had polenta (we call it mămăligă) as a staple food for centuries, using a different type of grain (buckwheat or millet) prior to corn. I have visited northern Italy recently and discovered that Italian polenta uses a less processed type of corn flour/ground corn, has a more rustic and grain-y taste than ours ; we use a very ”pure” processed maize, few impurities.
Cool story bro
We can say that the Roman Empire really made europe the continet it is today even in the food
No need to be rude guys...
Yes, especially in Transilvania, its very common. My fav breakfast was mamaliga filled with cheese, topped with sour cream . The other is polenta balls, filled with cheese then baked. Its in the cookbook of Alexandra Georgescu.
My best friend is Romanian and last year we went to Romania for a week. I absolutely loved the food, we were in the country side in the region near Moldova and everything was so fresh, I ate so much polenta with cheese. And yeah it tastes a bit different than Italian polenta
Polenta was a staple growing up. My family is from Lammari, just outside of Lucca. When my wife and I went to Italy and spent a whole week in Toscana the food just felt so much like home, only better!
I never understood polenta until now, can't wait to try some of these!
Corn products are naturally gluten free but the package label lets the buyer know that it is processed separately from wheat and tested so that there's no cross contamination.
I grew up in Charleston, S.C. And of course growing up on the south I'm quite familiar with grits and corn meal. The difference between corn meal and grits is corn meal is just ground corn, but grits is turned first into hominy before its ground. Also, in S.C. you can buy yellow grits because some folks just like the yellow better which was common years ago. However, when groceries began to be created enmass by conglomerates they pretty much stopped making the yellow for a time. However, there's now a mill in Charleston that makes the yellow grits.
Glad someone contributed this. Grits from hominy taste quite different from yellow corn meal. Thank you, Edward. I am Canadian but learned to love hominy grits and polenta in turn.
Edward could you explain the process of then corn kernels in both the corn meal, and de grits. In my country, mexico to be able to grind the dry corn, we have to boil or cook the corn in water and lime , and let it stand all night in order to separate the skins and get softer, then we mild it. Is the same with you corn meal, polenta grits? And what you mean with you have to turned into homeny before ? Thanks in advance, hope you coul answe my question. . Stay well, and happy,
Edward, uhhh... this doesn’t make sense. You say the difference between corn meal and grits is corn meal is just ground corn, and grits is first turned into “hominy” before it is ground... but when I look up “hominy “ for grits, it straight up says “coarsely ground corn used to make grits.” So you basically said “grits is first coarsely ground up corn before it gets ground.” You agree that is nonsensical, yes? 🙃
Did you mean to say that corn meal is simply ground down more to be a finer size than grits?
@@marloweirvine6740
He really didn’t explain it though - it came off confusing. See what I just wrote to him. Can you clear it up maybe?
My understanding is similar to what Griselda said. Dried corn is soaked in a lye solution and the outer coating comes away. The result is hominy. This is what is used in dishes like posole. The hominy is dried and then ground, giving hominy grits.
If the corn were to be cooked before being dried and ground it would be arepa flour which is used in Colombian or Bolivian style tortillas while uncooked finely ground cornmeal, harina, is used in Mexican-style torillas.
In all their videos, I admire how Eva just gets on with it. She doesn’t gild the lily like so many gushing RUclips presenters who end up hiding behind their ‘twist’ on everything. Brava Eva, brava.
Fried Mush is a Southern US analog, where leftover corn grits (or boiled cornmeal) are often left to cool and congeal. It is then sliced, dredged in flour, drenched in beaten egg, pan-fried, and served with maple syrup, honey, molasses, or sorghum syrup.
SO DELICIOUS!!!!
Yes, one of my favorites, my parents were from West Virginia. Always makes me sentimental. ❤
Love fried mush!!!!
I had mush for breakfast and to me it was a treat. My family is German and English of Germanic origin. So I'm not sure where my grandma learned how to make it but we had it . So sad things like this are way sided in modern America.
Man this brought back memories. I wish my granny were alive today. What a sweet woman.
Never had it but we also never had leftover grits from a breakfast either.
I'm from Campania (from a small town near Aversa, in the province of Caserta) and my great grandma and my grandma used to make polenta in the early morning, to feed the men of the family that were going to work in the fields.
They thought it would give them the energy they needed in order to endure many hours of work.
When I was a kid, sometimes we had some special "polenta evenings" with the whole family, especially in the winter. That polenta was creamy and loose, it had a very fine texture and my grandma put in it the same stuff everytime: some fried "cicoli" (small pieces of solid pork fat), small pieces of aged pecorino cheese, small pieces of dry aged sausages and black pepper.
The perfect comfort food.
I haven't had polenta with sauce in years...you brought me back to my grandmothers table (yes from Calabria too), thank you. Ok off to the store to get what I need to have this tonight. Hugs and hugs! ❤🧡❤
I'm Italian (from Napoli) and never cooked polenta because, you know, it's rare here to eat polenta. With this I can do it properly and start discovering this dish.
Io anche Campania (provincia di Salerno, ma residente qui in Germania) ricordo che mia nonna faceva ogni tanto la polenta. La cosa che ricordo con più piacere e che mi mandava letteralmente in estasi, era grattare dentro la padella quella parte che rimaneva un po’ attaccata al fondo della padella. Non lo dimenticherò mai !
In Naples (i came from napoli too) you can find polenta in Friggitoria, a traditional Fryed dish is "scagliozzi" or "tittoli" , fryed triangle of polenta.....
Ehm in Irpinia fanno la pizza di granturco, una sorta di polenta fritta. Mia nonna che è di un paese dell'area nolana ai piedi del Partenio lo fa, anche se molto raramente.
that's odd. my late father and nonni were from provincia di salerno ( a couple of hours more south) in the mountains of Monte San Giacomo and 'pocchia' (polenta) was a staple esp. in cucina povera
That’s odd, my family in Abruzzo does eat polenta, though not that frequently. I dunno if maybe Abruzzo is where Polentaland starts lmao, or maybe my folks are just weird
My Nonni always made rabbit with polenta. I still do to this day! I love it!
I’m from the North of Italy and my grandma used to make polenta for the whole family almost every weekend in the winter, at 85 she would stir it for 45-50 minutes non stop (and it gets hard pretty much as soon as it starts absorbing some of the water!) and when it was ready she would always have some in a cup with warm milk as a treat for her hard work. My brother and I loved eating it with granulated sugar or Nutella as a dessert. I feel like my childhood would not have been the same without this dish, it is so comforting to me. Sorry Eva I will never try it with ragù because it feels like betrayal to me lol
An Italian friend made polenta like yours and put it in a shallow pan. When it was cooled, she cut it into slices and grilled them and served them with mushroom ragu. Delicious.
Thank you for this recipe! My great grandmother was from Reggio Amelia and she never wrote down recipes and her version was like the first recipe. My grandma always wanted polenta that thick, but I didn’t figure it out to make it for her with the right texture. She loved the leftover slices fried crisp in butter with eggs for breakfast. Now I can make it in her honor the correct way. ❤
All I can say, is you to make me happy. Thanks.
Any time you ask a question that starts with “Would you guys like a video of Eva..” and ends with really anything she learned to do in Italy, the answer is YES.
Thank you for the shout out! That was unexpected and fun. :) I'm looking forward to trying your polenta recipes - they look delicious! Thanks for another great video.
So, even this time you taught me something new, Eva! I'm from Rome but in my family we always (when the supermarket has it) choose the taragna, as we like it better than the finer kinds. To keep it light and because I'm vegetarian, we (sadly) skip the cheese or the meat and usually cook it with a tomato sauce seasoned only with onion, rosemary and parmesan, or we make a earthier mushroom tomato sauce, preferably with porcini. My mum has part of her family from Borgomanero, in Piedmont, and remembering her times there as a kid when I was younger she also used to prepare polenta with 'tapulone', which is a traditional extremely finely chopped white stew with cabbage from that area. But today thanks to you and Harper I discover polenta with broccoli 😋!!! I'm going to make it asap and I'm sure it's going to become a favourite in my family! Thanks 😘!
Here in Brazil we make all kinds of polenta - we also have many types of grounded corn, so you can make polentas with many different textures. We also have angu. Angu is similar to polenta, but made with a very finely textured cornflour called fubá. Some people add the fubá to the water still cold, mix well and only then take it to the fire to cook, mixing all the time to avoid clumps.
Absolutely wonderful!!! I learned a lot about polenta (which I love eating)...Eva - you really should be awarded a doctorate in Italian food and cooking. I am so envious of your knowledge.
La polenta Taragnarock
Orgoglio dei paioli della Valhaltellina! 🌟
ruclips.net/video/Mq0IqiFXIZQ/видео.html
Appena ho visto il titolo ho avuto la stessa tua reazione, ho giusto controllato se qualcuno aveva già fatto questo commento prima di me :D
@Diana Pohe 🤣🤣😂😂 'fettivamente qualche parente scandinavo lo abbiamo...
@@cpav9062 io sono tarda, ci sono arrivata solo quando effettivamente hanno aperto il capitolo sulla Taragna😂
In the deep South, in southwest Georgia for instance. We use yellow corn to make grits, primarily coarse ground for grits. I can validate this as I've lived here all my life, still on our 150 year old family farm. Love ya'lls content!
It’s not just the Deep South. Many people in the south made grits with yellow corn that they took to a mill.
Mass manufactured grits use white corn or hominy.
I discovered your channel nearly three weeks ago and have been binge watching ever since. My partner and I adore you two, Eva is our newfound culinary hero. The dishes we have tried are amazing. Thanks so much for educating all of us on how to cook like proper Italians! ♥
Finally! Polenta.., never cooked it, so we will learn from Eva and at the same time we learn some italian words too🤩🤗🙏😍
There's also a polenta dish called toc, traditional of the mountain area above Bellagio, on Como lake. They cook polenta for hours adding kilos of butter and cheese regularly. The result is a very smooth and elastic polenta people eat with a spoon out of the pot, you take a spoonfull and make a small ball with your hands before eating it. Usually people eat it with meat and sottaceti.
That sounds amazing!
Noi in Friuli la tagliamo a fette e l'arrostiamo per accompagnare pesce o carne(poi la facciamo anche"pasticciata" con formaggio di malga,funghi ed erba cipollina),provare per godere!😁😋
I can't believe this channel doesn't have like a million subscribers
I've watched some of your videos in the past and enjoyed them very much, but the thoroughness of this video has finally pushed me to subscribe to your channel. I like the chemistry you have and the ease with which Eva cooks. Bravi e grazie!
The beauty of all - is how BRILLIANTLY- EVA - ties all into Italian history --
I love that Eva was so keen to eat the polenta taragna that she forgot the obligatory 'buon appetito!' 🤣
Thank you for this! It made me feel so connected to my family that passed! My nonna used to have "polenta parties" with the other Italian immigrants in the neighborhood, and my mom has never taught me because of how much work it is to make. This was so wonderful! I'll be able to make my nonna proud ❤️
The substitution with fontina in the taragna, if you can’t find Casera or Bitto, is perfectly fine. Any really fat cheese will do. Also, try making it with vegetable broth instead of water! Milk will also work very nicely. Smashing video, thanks for covering one of my favorite foods!
now the taragna polenta with cheese and porcini mushrooms is my dream polenta
I'm Slovenian- American and we make polenta, but it's made from corn flour (not cornmeal, which is too coarse) or buckwheat and it's not a porridge. It's moldable (you can make disks with a cleaned tuna can) and served with things like goulash. 🤷🏻♀️ I eat it plain with some butter, too.
And now, it's 3am and I want some!!!
OMG you made it just like my Italian grandma made it when you did it with the pork ribs and sauce. She made everything from scratch. Oh I miss her food! You are so lucky to have Ava make you this good food for you! My grandma's family was from central Italy so this method with the ragu is correct! It warms my heart when I watch Ava cook the way my grandma did. ❤️
Back home in Uruguay we eat as much polenta as the italians simply because ,at some point in time, there were as many italians as locals in there.
Obviously that historical fact brought a lot of culinary new ideas to a nation that lives mainly on red meat.
Fresh pasta (ravioli,cappelletti,tortellini, etc) is purchased in what we call "pasta factories" every sunday, specially in winter, some people use to make them at home, an almost lost custom today.
Corn meal is as cheap as rice or dry pasta in there and polenta was always a welcomed variation on the poor's people diet.
Generally is served with a heavy pasta sauce on top with chunks of beef and sausage ;any leftover (without the sauce) was served as breakfast with sugar and milk the next morning (sort of a latino version of Corn Flakes if you will).
Amazing recipes guys, keep they coming please.
Greetings from Toronto.
Polenta is also used in Mexican cooking. Its cool to see so many cultures using the same types of ingredients in so many ways.
My Mom a great Italian cook would never use polenta because she lived on it during the depression years and will not cook it to this day ! I do want to try it and will try your recipes.
Similarly, my Mom grew up in a German town in Romania, and she said they had polenta with cheese almost daily. Once they left Europe, she didn’t want to eat it again, and she never made it for us growing up, so I had to discover it on my own. But I really like it! Thanks for this interesting video!
@@fasullodavvero Mia madre ha 94 anni e viveva nella parte povera della città, ma aveva una buona famiglia e mi ha dato una vita fantastica. Ma lei non cucinava la polenta e mi raccontava di mangiarla da piccola essendo povera. Grazie.
I had an uncle who grew up very poor and wouldn’t touch polenta as an adult!
Polenta is a staple in my family, my grandparents were from Val di Chiese. We use yellow corn, I grow and grind it myself. We add potatoes, fried (in butter)onions and cheese. I still have my great grandfathers polenta pot which is made copper and his Trissa, a wooden paddle.
Sono friulana, da noi la polenta si mangia in diversi modi, appena fatta quindi ancora morbida con carne (costa, spezzatino...) fatti in padella con salsa, spezie... Prendendo la polenta morbida e nel piatto versare sopra il sugo della carne e mangiare tutto assieme. O una volta fredda tagliata a fette, arrostita sulla piastra e accompagnata dalla classica grigliata, o ancora la polenta pasticciata con vari tipi di formaggio saporito che si fonde. Una bontà da provare
Bergamasco fan reporting: Fontina as a change is approved for the polenta taragna :)
Otherwise use an older Taleggio. Firm and strong, it still melts very well in it :)
Eva.....Professor of polenta .
So informative, and as always, entertaining and fun.
No no no no no! Signora Eva! Il filo per tagliare la polenta dov'è? Si racconta ancora, almeno si ricorda, tra i sopravvissuti della mia generazione, della famiglia intera morta di fame per mancanza del filo per tagliare la polenta seppur pronta, calda calda, sul tagliere. Filo doppio, teso tra i due indici e passato al di sotto e tirato su a raggiera. Un accessorio semplice ma indispensabile.
I don’t know if it’s just in Rome or it is just the “quartiere”, but when we put the meat sauce and the parmigiano on top, we also sprinkle a bit of olive oil!
I appreciate this post! Polenta is so underused and misunderstood, and so useful. I make "bars" of it i cover like bruschetta, and they freeze beautifully and are so easy to refresh warm when you need a small bit before dinner.
In Austria polenta was very common among (poor) farmers. They needed a heavy but cheap dish because of their hard work. So polenta was mostly the first choice with loads of lard and some crispy speckcubes (speck on sundays only of course!).
In my humble opinion not very tasty but it worked.
Grits. With butter and milk. Allowed to crust the bottom of the pan. Served with melted butter cinnamon and sugar. I miss my Oma
Feel so lucky to have grown up eating polenta all the time. We always had polenta taragna. We and our family in italy also cut in mashed potatoes sometimes, and sometimes dont add the buckwheat grain. Any kind of soft mild cheese would go in. There are several different kinds of ragus to serve it under, usually small salami meatballs in white milk sauce. When i lived in nyc, i often went to a restaurant where they grilled polenta slices that had green olives sliced inside. Actually very good.
Cream of wheat is called Farina in the states also
One of my favorite tuscan recipes is farinata colle leghe, which is a soup made with beans and kale (or bietole) in which you boil some polenta. Make a soffritto with pancetta, onion, carrot, celery, and a garlic clove. Parboil some white or borlotti beans, cut in strips and parboil the kale (if you use other greens you can skip this passage), add meat stock, the beans, the kale, and some of the beans cooking water to the soffritto, check for salt abd pepper,then add some fioretto flour and cook until very creamy. When it's hot it is a thick soup, the leftovers become hard, and can be sliced and fried.
It reminds me of the Dutch Griesmeelpap. Semolina Durum wheat cooked with milk, sugar, and ground almonds (or almond extract). My wife loves it when I make it.
In my town in Tuscany we have one called "polenta ficca" made mixing polenta with the leftover of another typical dish we have: cabbage and borlotti bean soup... it's a must during winter time 😋😋😋
Another amazing and in my opinion the yummiest way to cook polenta (I hoped you included in today's video!) is to make slices with the lefrovers and fry them... we called them "polentine" and in Tuscany we eat them with fegatini di pollo, oh my gosh 🥴🥴🥴
I must know more about that first dish. Cabbage and polenta sounds heavenly and adding beans just makes for a proper meal.
I just watched your polenta show. I was born in Pescara, Italy (Abruzzo). We did the polenta with the meat sauce. My girl friend was from Calabrian and also prepared it with meat sauce. My favorite. Thanks for the great memories. I am making it soon.
I used Mangia Bedda's advice and made the Taragna in the oven 400deg for 1hr. Added the butter and cheese at the end. Turned out much better than expected.
My family is from the Ticinese region of Switzerland. The small village of Mierra in the hills above Lugano. We always put our polenta in a bowl before cooking and top it with a small handful of salt which represents the snow covered mountains. We never, ever make it with water. We used milk, carefully scalding the milk without burning it. We only added water if it gets too thick too fast. It is cooked continually stirring for about 45 minutes. Never stop stirring. At the end of cooking, off of the fire, we would add a small amount of butter to be stirred in. Once it was set fairly well we turn the copper pot out onto a round woven polenta basket that can be soaked in water to prevent the polenta from sticking to it. It was very rustic and not the creamy polenta you see here in America. These days I often dump it out onto a wet towel so that I can pull the corners up a bit while it sets. The smoke from cooking in a hanging pot over a fire give’s it a unique flavor. Paired with Italian sweet sausages it is so dreamy. I always get a laugh when i see it here in the US on menus as a luxury item…it is cucina povera! My dad fed it to the pigs.
I've always loved eating polenta it's hardy and a satisfing comfort food that sticks to your ribs
Have found a really good polenta meal at the farmers market..." Wild hive farm" from upstate N.Y. cooked slow in the oven...yummmmchefs kiss!!
Grandpa always made the super thick polenta, formed it into a brick, there was a lot of butter involved, mozzarella stirred in and generally some kind of red sauce over it. Unless it was for breakfast, then it was no cheese, sliced, pan fried on both sides, and syrup.
My family immigrated from Northern Italy (Veneto). Polenta was always cooked like your first version. Also, the wooden spoon and the string/thread to cut it were important! We always, and still do, have it with a chicken cacciatore type dish. Although, I'm told small birds were common to have with polenta.
Polenta con gli Osei
@@Penthotal71 oppure con gli "uccelletti scappati" 😀
@@Penthotal71 ah, Grazie Stefano.
Polenta e osei..mitica!ciao dall' Italia😁👋
My father used to make a very thick and course polenta like you made in this video. After it is finished cooking, he would dish it into a loaf pan and let it cool in the refrigerator, maybe two hours. Then you slice the polenta cake into thick slices, maybe 20 cm (1-1.5 in.). The slices are then fried until golden brown on all sides. They are delicious by themselves or you can dip into unsweetened applesauce with ground cinnamon, or mascarpone with chopped chives and course ground, black pepper, maybe a dash of pepperoncini. Enjoy! PS: Eva, love the new hair color with the highlights. Very flattering to your skin tone.
I love Italian polenta. In Peru, a form of polenta called "pepián" is made with ground fresh corn (not dried corn) and is usually served along stews.
In southern Brazil polenta is a very common dish, because of the many italian immigrants we had over the years. The consistency is usually like the central italian polenta, but we also cook smoked pork ribs and sausages in the polenta, like the calabria one does with vegetables. It tastes amazing. Something else that is very common here, is once the polenta is cold and firm, we cut it into strips and deep fry them. Best. Dish. Ever.
I am from the center of Italy. We served our polenta as we celebrate usbeing together. What joy it was to see your are correct. Thank you so much.
during winter, my grandfather would cook grits until they were as thick as is shown in this video and spread it onto a plate and place the plate outside in his screened in porch and let it cool....then slice it like a pie and serve it covered with very hot pot roast gravy (no roux or flour added, just the liquid from the meat). It was AMAZING.
Oh the memories this brings back! I’m almost in tears thinking of my late mother, while from southern Friuli (very near Venice), her polenta was always very creamy, liquid-like. Holidays, and Easter in particular, were stewed rabbit served over polenta.
Rabbit with peverada sauce?
@@veraemma7738 she never called it that. But it was rabbit, braised in wine, some tomato sauce (but not much), and possibly stock, with pickling spices, with all of that poured onto a bed of polenta.
@@jpp7783 I ask because I come from the same part of Friuli and we use to make polenta and rabbit served with peverada, which is made with chicken liver, pepper and spices.
Bramata for ever! Saluti dall'Italia.
Io ho trovato un braccino elettrico che si applica al paiolo e gira la polenta da solo per ore. Fantastico.
Le fettine si possono friggere e farci sciogliere sopra la fontina.
This year we had some "brustolà" (grilled) polenta with "soppressa" salami, mushrooms and Monte Veronese cheese in Italy. It was amazingly good !!
I absolutely love the way she says polenta! I feel like I could listen to her talk all day and I would walk away a much wiser human being. ❤
Had this for the first time in Pratola Peligna in a 600 year old home. Made on a wood fire stirred and poured onto boards, then tomato sauce, boar sausage. Homemade table wine and Linocello. It was Abruzzo magic
Love it!!! Every couple months we'd all get together and the aunts would make the polenta. Half served with the ragu and the other half would have the cured sausages cut up and fried in extra virgin olive oil and the polenta would get sprinkled with Pecorino on top, amazing! Between this video and all the pictures of the family harvesting the olives right now, I'm getting so hungry hahaha.
That is such an amazing memory of my childhood, when mia nonna was making the polenta for 30 people of the family and mio nonno was cutting with the cotton thread, was such a massive polenta, my favorite memory eating as a kid, was dicing and eating with milk, such a good one.
My family is from north east Italy.We make it like a cake consistency.Sometimes we have it with a ragu, or sometimes plain with jam.I love d all the different ways you made it.They all looked good
Haven't had it in at least 20 years. I remember Nana making it and I was given the simple job to "KEEP STIRRING IT!!"
😆 I actually have a box of Colavita polenta mix in the cupboard that I bought last winter. I'll have to look for the Moretti brand. I can't remember what we used when I was a kid. Sounds like a good meal for this coming week! I'll be making some red sauce tomorrow with venison and sausage. That will go very well with it, I'm sure!
I love Italian food, I am 100% Italian American. My mother was a great baker and I was a great son who loved to eat. Great video.
Love the idea of using half buckwheat but the winner for me would be with broccoli, plus ragu. Great work, lovlies.
In Uruguay, we usually make polenta with a meat sauce. In my home, it used to be sheep or lamb meat, sausage if available, and panceta (bacon). But in some places here, it is also common to prepare it as a shepard's pie using polenta instead of mashed potatoes and using a meat filling, other times just ham and cheese, and even sauté vegetables like spinach or chard.
In my early 20’s I invented a very tasty dish: Eggs in Purgatory served over Crispy Polenta Cakes. I swear, it worked out very well. The eggs were a little over, but I was young. The sauce was rich and spicy, and the polenta was full of parmigiano reggiano, herbs, and salt/pepper, fried in pork fat. After frying, it was still so soft, it almost failed to hold its shape. I was so proud of myself, and I am still proud, of that young woman. 🤗🤗💐💋 I did all of that, without even one recipe. I was guessing, from watching food shows, and foods I had eaten.🤘🏻 Yes, it was Valentines’ Day, and I was trying to impress an atctual cook/chef person.💋
My daughter her hubby own restaurant. Italian. Bless you for sharing such a rich beautiful food. Like heaven
Then, you can still add your toppings as you would normally.
I understand tradition ... but I've realized that cooking is an art form ... you can make any dish your own.
Just watching you guys cook is a testament this idea.
Thank you guys for showing us the polenta dishes from the different regions of Italy! I am used to the meat sauce version but can't wait to try the other dishes!!
I had wild boar with polenta in a mountain village in Piemonte. It was wonderful! The boar was seasoned with rosemary and juniper berries, and since that time I started making my pot roast that way.
This brings back fond memories hiking through the Alps in Valle D'Aosta and stopping at refuges where they routinely served camoscio e polenta. And nice warm-me-up on cold days. Especially when coupled with some vin brulé.
Polentona here (Bresciana)! Thank you for this video. I commented some time ago under one of your videos if you'd mention the different types of corn meal that can be found in ordinary American supermarkets and how Eva thinks they compare to polenta (some were saying grits and polenta are the same thing). I used to live in Colorado (many years ago) and only could find corn meal suitable for Mexican dishes. I was wondering whether these days there was more available in your average grocery store.
My Father had a special pan and stirring stick that I still use today, he would flip it out of the pan just like a cake and cut it with a string. My family was from a small village outside of Lucca and their food was very simple.
I adore the gift of Italy to the world. Mama mia Polenta! I like to cut up the polenta the day after if have made it [and I add grated real Parm to it right after I cook it, stir up, wow what that adds to the polenta] I cut it into "fingers" and saute it or you can bake it in the oven, until very brown and crispy. Very very delicious. I also have baked vegetables into polenta: red/gold peppers, artichokes, asparagus, any and all types of slice mushrooms, thin sliced red potatoes and more [even prosciutto]. It looks a bit like a pizza, but tastes like its wonderful self. Thanks for the segment on Polenta, Regina di Carbs!!!
Eva, he's right on this one... why not?! I enjoyed learning more about polenta. When I was a kid my mom would make the first polenta you made, cut it into blocks and then sauteed with olive oil and little bit of garlic. It was so crispy and tasty. I love polenta all ways and I can't wait to make a Calabrian version.
Polenta with sausage, caramelized onions and bell peppers is one of my favorite fall comfort food 👍🏻
I go even further, I grow my own corn to grind for polenta. I grow a variety called Floriani, which was bred in northern Italy especially for polenta, and it is amazing.
My grandma was from soveria mannelli so that Calabrian polenta brought me back to her kitchen. Thank you.
That copper pot is amazing!
I love learning new things about my Italian culture. My family, from Puglia , never made polenta but as a young adult in New York City I was exposed to it and have come to love it! Thank you for showing us these wonderful variations and yes please more recipes for polenta! Looking forward to the dessert one especially. Thank you again.
Thank you for this video, Eva. My nonna was from Calabria, and it's been a long time since l have had polenta. Will be using your recipe very soon! ❤❤
Imagine that in Valtellina eat Polenta taragna with stew!! So heavy!!
In Tuscany we use to eat It with stew or with mushrooms (porcini made in a special way with garlic and nepitella) or even as a First course with ragù and parmesan...traditionally Is also used to make a soup with beans and black cabbage 🙂
My Nonna Antoinetta made it soft (Abbruzzo), my Nonna Rosina (Venezia) cooked it exactly like the first one in your video. I love both, but prefer the firm one. I have never seen the buckwheat polenta or Calabrese style (both look so delicious). I'm learning so much from Eva's cooking.
Thank you, Ava. Polenta brings comfort to my soul. My ancestors are from the north of Italy. ❤
I make polenta to go with chili, I make it early so when its time to eat I slice the polenta, and fry to reheat, its delicious crispy on the outside and soft inside.
As always great!! We are from Calabria as well and my mom would make polenta lasagna with ragu. Out of this world.ciao franco grazie mille.
E questo lo scrivo in Italiano 🙂, da bambino era usanza mettere la polenta sulla "spianatora" (una grande tavola di legno) dove, al centro, c'erano salcicce e spuntature. Per poterle mangiare, era obbligatorio mangiare la polenta fino ad arrivare al centro, creando una sorta di strada. Ovviamente c'era la gara per arrivare al "premio"!
I just wanted to say thank you for your help with Polenta! My mother used to make it for us when we were kids and I hated it! But, it was a consistency issue. It was too smooth. I also didn't know you could put things in it so I finely chopped some onion & garlic, sauteed it and finished it with some Fontina cheese and it was so good, I'm going to make it again! The coarse grind was a real game changer. I'd send you a picture, but I don't know how. Sorry! Un caloroso grazie di cuore!