Polenta

Polenta

Polenta porridge with lentils (bottom) and cotechino sausage (top)
Type	Porridge
Place of origin	Northern and central Italy[1]
Main ingredients	Yellow or white cornmeal, liquid (water, soup stock)
Cookbook: Polenta   Media: Polenta

Polenta (/pəˈlɛntə, poʊˈ-/, Italian: [poˈlɛnta])^[2][3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] Polenta is a staple of both northern and, to a lesser extent, central Italian, Swiss Italian, southern French, Slovenian, Romanian and, due to Italian migrants, Brazilian and Argentinian cuisine. It is often mistaken for the Slovene-Croatian food named žganci.^[1] Its consumption was traditionally associated with lower classes, as in times past cornmeal mush was an essential food in their everyday nutrition.^[6]