On the other hand, when Polenta is on the menu, the Northerners (and especially Italians) love it and those from the south ask what it is.
Polenta and Grits are one and the same: cornmeal mush! They are both often treated in the same culinary fashion as well!
Grits can be made from yellow or white cornmeal (for some reason Southerners seem to like white corn a lot); it can be served for breakfast alone or with butter and/or cheese or sweetened; it can be chilled and fried or seasoned and served with a shrimp or another savory concoction for dinner. Atlantans love Shrimp and Grits, Carolinians and other Southerners seem to prefer more traditional preparations (from my experience listening to them at any rate).
Polenta, an Italian staple, is now usually made with yellow cornmeal. It is a descendant of Pulmentum, an ancient Etruscan and Roman puls or cereal made from wheat, barley or possibly millet. Corn was most likely not introduced until the time of Columbus and the discovery of the New World in the 16th Century, although it may have come as early as the Crusades. Corn is still called granturco in Italian. Latin pulmentum became Italian Polenta.
Needless to say, there are many varieties of Polenta throughout the world, and this is no place to write an exhaustive treatise on the subject, but I will mention 2 more items of interest (at least to me!).
Polenta Taragna is polenta made from buckwheat flour and it may predate corn polenta as buckwheat came into Italy with the Saracens in the 9th century. It is still called Saracena in Italian and Sarrasin in French. Polenta Taragna is a hearty polenta appropriate to the Alpine area where it is a specialty. I sampled it at a friend's (Rosario) family home in Valtellina with some wonderful local cheese called Bitto..but that is another story! Grazie Rosario e Rosaria!!
Back to cornmeal polenta..it too can be served for breakfast with cheese or butter, chilled, sliced and fried or combined in many ways with sausages or sauces. In fact it is often used in place of pasta in lasagne.
In a recent conversation with a friend about garlic (yes, deep and meaningful conversations about garlic is part of the Dyson family tradition!), he recalled a garlicy beef dish from his family, served with mamaliga, the Lithuanian and Romanian version of polenta! It seems you will find some form of polenta or grits all over the world, wherever corn is grown.
No matter what the name, or how it is served, it offers comfort and is delicious or delicioso!
Here we are cooking for one. Stirring a large pot of cornmeal until it is creamy is probably not going to happen very often. So we are going to compromise. You can still enjoy the pleasure and nutrition of grits or polenta.
Grits do not take too long to cook, and there are "quick cooking grits" (avoid the instant variety if possible) available. Polenta comes prepared and can be purchased in a tube in the grocery store. I get an organic variety from SunCoast Organics, and here are a couple of ideas which I have recently prepared easily on a work day.
2-3 fairytale eggplant (about 1-2 cups ) sliced
2 garlic cloves
extra virgin olive oil
premium marinara sauce (in a jar or your own)
1 Italian sausage (optional)
sliced polenta to fit baking dish
Heat the oil in a skillet, add eggplant then add the garlic put through a press.
Add marinara sauce to skillet and pour all over the polenta in the baking dish.
Bake at 400 until hot and bubbly. Serve with cheese or top with slices of mozzarella 5 minutes before removing from oven.
If using sausage, grill or cook in skillet, slice and add to eggplant mixture. You can also add fresh basil or parsley if you have it.
FRIED POLENTA WITH FRUIT AND MAPLE SYRUP
There is no recipe for this. Just slice the polenta, saute it in a little butter or canola oil or bacon fat. Top with fruit and warm maple syrup.
I use fruit in season. Berries are used in the picture, but you can saute apples with cinnamon, use bananas and nuts, peaches, etc. Use agave syrup or honey or just some powdered sugar. It's all a delight, and I always feel better than if I've eaten a big pancake, but just as satisfied!
Nutritionally polenta has no fat, a good amount of fiber and some protein. It is a little higher in sodium than pasta or wheat, but somehow is easier to digest.
As for the grits, I have no photo, but I did serve Shrimp and Grits to my husband for breakfast one morning. We were used to a Yankee breakfast of fishcakes with bacon and baked beans, so it did not seem too odd.
We both enjoyed it and I'll toss in a photo if I ever make it again.
The recipe called for grits cooked in stock and cream with butter, topped with shrimp sauteed in bacon fat, with onions, garlic and peppers.
If you're from the North and want to make it Italian..just top polenta with shrimp scampi and bacon!!
Good Eating! (wherever you're from)
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