Winter’s cold is an ugly thing, especially when the houses are built to stay wintry cool in the summer heat rather than the other way around. The Romans might have invented central heating 2000 years ago, but little has been done to improve the system since. Enter polenta….
The quintessential winter meal, this dish is the caloric transfer workhorse. Preparation, done communally of course, together with one plate per person, will keep everyone warm through the night. How so?
First, the fine-grain polenta (3-4 oz.s per person) needs to be stirred continuously for about 45 minutes over a medium flame. All but an Olympiad’s arm muscles will tire after 5 minutes, so polenta is a group meal for this reason alone, requiring frequent changes at the wooden dowel’s stirring helm.
Add the fact that the 1-2 sausages and 1-2 pork spare ribs per person also need to stew in their tomato sugo for a while and the kitchen begins to resemble Florence in August. (Sautée the oil, garlic and onions first, then add the meat until browned, then the tomato and let simmer for 45 mins.)
What really packs the heat punch however is the meal itself, served on individual (or occasionally a large shared) wooden board. This is stick to your ribs winter food per eccellenza… careful though, polenta served two inches high and submerged by equally hot pork and sugo has an ability to retain heat that seems to defies basic thermodynamics.
With food like this? Psshtt! Central heating indeed…
– Contributed by GB (see bio), Editor, Italian Notebook.
This truly is one the benefits of winter as i make my nonna’s polenta recipe to this day for my family ….winter time only!
warms me up just thinking about this delicious combo! thanks so much.
Love the individual polenta boards in the photo. Must look for them in the market. My husband was born while his mother was making polenta, so every Jan 16 on his birthday that is our meal. There is a way to make it in the oven. No stirring required, but 90 minutes in the electric oven makes it too expensive and energy wasting for those without solar panels. Love polenta and we eat it often in the winter (with sausages, yes but with chicken and broccoli rabe and lots of other toppings too). Now I’m hungry…
An alternative to 45 minutes of stirring is to use a double-boiler and simply stir the polenta for a few minutes at the beginning and then toward the end. And for those on the run, 5-minute instant polenta is really not so bad.
Outstanding Note: keep repeating it.
being poor as most were,we would have such polenta ‘on a board’
mama would say “che muoiono di fame” as we dove into our portion and yes our palate would burn from the heat. But without doubt our stomachs were so satisfied. What could be better! those were the good times…
I remember it served with rabbit, in the winter, and with chicken. This looks good. On a board that fit the whole table. Everybody had a fork & napkin, nothing else.
Not only is polenta tasty and filling, but it is yet another example of food as sharing: a communal meal.
Bravissimo, GB! Enjoyed molto
a major reason my wife still thinks I’m OK is because I introduced her to polenta, and she loves your post.
Good timing! We’ve been making polenta for dinner recently and always looking for recipes. I’ll have to hunt down some of the boards when I’m in Rome in November. Thanks GB!!
Gilberto:
What wonders you describe .
S & R
This bring back some wonderful memories of a great evening in your house. We are returning to Rome this spring. Bud on the 13th of February. I 3 weeks later. Hope we get to see you if this is where you live. Many warm greeting to your Mom. Aase
As a matter of fact we are having polenta with sausage and peppers tonight. If any one out there would like to see easy old receipes like polenta and sausages with peppers email me at camarchetti@earthlink.net.
Oh my gosh, does the sugo look deeelicioussss!! Though I occasionally use the old family copper paiolo for making polenta for years I’ve been making it in the pressure cooker… First the polenta meal is placed in the cooker, then the water gently stirred in along with a nob of butter and some salt, the lid is then placed on, the heat brought up to high then lowered to the smallest flame possible, then all is cooked for just ten minutes. Once taken off the flame and the pressure has gone down the lid is opened and the polenta is given a stir. This method I learned from my mother and relatives in Milano. Soak the pot in water overnight and the stuck on meal will easily slip off. As a child my mother would also place sauced polenta (or pasta) on a large round board in the center of the table from which we’d all eat from–no plates, true communal dinning. Thank you GB for the photos and recipe!
i can’t stand looking at the photos. it makes me miss tuscany so much. and it’s SO cold here that i wish someone was in the kitchen stirring up the polenta as we speak. great article and great photos – thanks so much!
I have never actually experienced polenta as it should be made and presented – only some rather fay little geometric servings of it in UK restaurants. And not much polenta on the menus of the south, obviously. So this was an education, GB. Thank you!
My husband’s family is from the Abruzzo region and emigrated to the U.S. in 1957 when he was 9 years old. My first taste of polenta was as a young bride in 1975 when my mother-in-law had us over for dinner & served the polenta “communal” style on a large board as we all sat around the kitchen table with only a fork & napkin. She spread the red sauce all over the polenta and placed the meat in the center. It was fun forking our way to the meat and afterwards discussing what shape the leftover polenta resembled. Was it New York, or Florida? My mother-in-law is now 88 but still continues every winter to cook & serve polenta the traditional way.
Yummy, I want some of that polenta right now!
My Dad grew up eating polenta all the time (they were so poor) and as an adult he couldn’t stand it, so I didn’t have it until I became an adult. However, when he was young, it was a poor person’s food, now it is gourmand. Buon appetito!
Served polenta with brisket on New Year’s Day. Rather than the Herculean effort of the constant stirring, add one cup of the polenta to 4 cups boiling water. Add slowly whisking the whole time. When all the polenta is added cover the pot with some brown paper, cover with the lid and lower the flame as much as you can. 45 minutes later, polenta! Jazz it up with butter and parmigiano and that’s heaven.
IF any leftovers remain—- remove meat from ribs; rough-cut sausage; mix w/ sauce, the combine w/ polenta. Place in refer in a loaf pan to set. In AM, slice to desired thickness, saute in olive oil til first side brown, flip and cover w/ appropriate # large eggs, cover loosly w/lid til eggs set to liking. Serve w/ leftover thick slices of good bread, buttered lightly after rubbing w/ garlic,,,,Yum!!! M.Hoff-Seattle–Ballard–Honorary Coppabianca
GB, I never tire of your notes, especially those dealing with food and sagra’s. Oh how I miss Italy. Keep up the good work.
PS. Since I cook for only one person, I use the instant polenta – not the same, but much easier and so tasty.
If you don’t want to labor over stirring the pot then take the easy way and purchase an electric polenta pot (paiolo elettrico). http://tinyurl.com/7geyeuz
My grandfather, Giovanni Angelini, and several male relatives would take turns stirring the giant pot of polenta with an enormous paddle. The men were the only ones strong and tall enough to tackle that part of the job. The women would make the sauce- meatballs, sausages, pigs feet, you name it! Then- at just the right moment, two men would pick up the pot of steaming polenta and pour it onto the top of the sparkling clean formica table top. No plates! Everyone pulled up a chair, had a knife and a fork. The meat sauce was poured into the center and the feast was on. My mother, Julia Angelini, remembers that she and her sister would carve out pieces in the shape of the Italian boot. Fun, wonderful memories of those terrific early Italian immigrants from the mezzogiorno. Grazie mille!
We have never really got the “hang” of Polenta, but GB you have painted such a picture, we will try again. Many thanks
We remember fondly feasting on polenta with you and your Mom. You really know how to make it first-hand! Big hugs!
Looks wonderful but how do you make the dishes?
With ancestors from the south of Italy, polenta was never on the menu. However, I am a polenta lover-with or without the wooden ‘plates’. I would imagine that a glass of red wine also helped to keep everyone warm on cold, damp winter days. Look forward to trying some of those recipe suggestions.
Made it for dinner earlier, first time for a grandson and friend,he loved it. Veal and mushrooms with sugo and a glass of red.Good eats !!
Growing up in The Bronx, in a section where many folks came from all parts of Italy, Polenta was the main meal for me sister and father. I recall my Mother’s efforts with a large spoon, turnimg what seemed forever. During those days, early to late 1930s, the economy was slowly gaining form the stock market crash. Polenta was served very often, 3 or 4 times per week. Recently, some super markets have polenta, however, the cost is outrageous. Thank God for polenta that gave our family the warmth, energy and long life. By the way, my mother never added any meat, just plain polenta covered with suga.
It is true that polenta is often regarded as a food of mainly Northern Italy, but that certainly was not the case with my maternal grandfather who came from a town in Abruzzo called Posta. They ate polenta regularly. Neither my maternal grandparents OR my paternal grandparents ever used the word “sugo” to describe tomato sauce. It was either “sauce” or “gravy”. Where does the word “sugo” originate? Grazie.
Polenta is popular in all the cold mountainous regions of Italy. As a child I remember my mother making polenta with red sauce (considered southern style in Piemonte) and in white, with white pork skin sausages and fried onions. The polenta was scooped out with a spoon, one spoonful at a time into a bowl with every layer sprinkled with cheese and sauce. always eaten in individual plates.
GB-I don’t understand what you mean by “houses built for summer heat rather than the other way around”. This certainly is not true. Italy has different climates. “The other way around” applies to all the cold polenta eating mountainous regions of Italy.
That is just the way I remember it. What a joy those days were!
Grandson always did the polenta, it was her board and her specialty.
Mille grazie,
Alberto
You did not mention the proportions of polenta flour and water. That would help Thanks for this story though.
Joan Tolotti.. There are so many different recipes for Polenta.. But if you e-mail me directly I will tell you how to get a great easy recipe that will impress all your family and friends… camarchetti@earthlink.net.
Enjoyed the article and how people do things. I have never eaten polenta like this but would love to try it. I love a bowl with a spoon of honey (from Italy). It makes a great breakfast as well as suppper. I heard of some relatives that ate communily like this but I never personally met them. My family never did that I remember. It is interesting to read about how things were years ago and nice to know some things still continue in some respect. Polenta has gotten more popular in the US now. I guess good things eventually gain respect.