La Lama Mountain Ovens
Old Italian family recipes
and archives, baking tips, and bakery gifts
Family Secrets
|
La Lama Mountain Ovens |
The best of the recipes, techniques, and methods practiced by our large extended Italian-American family - with emphasis on the legacy handed down to us by the original immigrants. This is a cookbook-in-process project. If you try any of these recipes please let us know how they turn out, whether or not you had any difficulties, and any clarifying improvements you might recommend to make them foolproof. We will of course acknowledge genuine "test-kitchen" assistance. |
Family Secrets #9Polenta By CeCe Dove, La Lama Mountain Ovens |
| Until the late 1970's I
refused to eat in an Italian restaurant. The few times
that we had tried, we were faced with the standard mushy
spaghetti, tasteless meatballs, and the ever-present
pizza. It was much better to eat "Italian" at
home. But several things happened in the 70's. First, the
public became much more sophisticated in their taste for
foods of other countries. As a result, chefs across the
country responded by presenting well researched, well
cooked ethnic food. Secondly, we all became much more
aware of proper diet and good nutrition. It seemed like
overnight we were bombarded with the blessings of a
Mediterranean diet based on grains, fruits and
vegetables, with small amounts of protein in the form of
fish, poultry and meat. This information continues to
develop today even to the point where the traditional
food pyramid we all learned in school has been rearranged
to put grains at the top. Our parents were not particularly learned about nutrition, but rather had an intuitive understanding of a well-balanced diet. That, combined with the basic frugal nature of our household, led us to eat in a fashion that is now considered "healthy". |
 Ediberta (Bertha) Zara nee Buzzelli
(1903-1972) |
| It wasn't until I moved away from home that
I realized that mama had several old standbys for when
the dollar was short. None of us kids ever felt
shortchanged at the table. The food was plentiful and
delicious and, although we didn't know it at the time,
also healthy. In addition to those benefits, it was often
cheap because of the use of lots of pasta, grains, and
vegetables. You can't get much better than that. The first time I spotted polenta on a San Francisco menu in the ‘70s, where my husband and I lived for 25 years, I was elated. This was definitely one of Mom's standbys and one of my "comfort" foods. I never imagined that I'd see it in a fashionable big city restaurant. Then I took a look at the price and couldn't believe my eyes. For that whopping $8.95 I could cook up enough polenta to serve an army. But it was now "discovered" along with a satisfying range of other authentic Italian food. And so, while we did occasionally pay to eat in upscale fine Italian restaurants, I still cooked my polenta at home. In Italy it is the northern region of Lombardy where polenta is the most popular. The Etruscans passed it to the Romans in central Italy, but since the Etruscan influence was barely felt in the northern regions it was most likely introduced there by the Romans. According to Waverley Root in his book "The Foods of Italy" Lombardy grows much maize which has proved ideal for polenta. It is so important to that region that every properly equipped kitchen owns a special copper pot reserved solely for the making of polenta. Polenta is truly rustic food at its best. A cupful or two added to boiling water or stock and finished with a pat of butter, a handful of grated Parmesan and topped with a ladle of homemade tomato sauce will feed four deliciously. Make twice as much and pour the extra into a well-oiled loaf pan and chill overnight. Now you can unmold and slice it, slide the slices into a frying pan with some melted butter and serve for breakfast with maple syrup. You could also slice it, brush it with olive oil and grill it for a side dish with grilled meats for dinner. Wonderfully versatile, you can trick this humble dish into all sorts of presentations limited only by your imagination. Sausage or game added to a tomato sauce is superb with hot soft polenta. Sautéed wild mushroom are a quick and easy addition to tomato sauce if you do not wish to add meat. The meat juices from a roast can be spooned over grilled sliced polenta as a side dish. Rosemary or sage-infused oils add yet another dimension. When mama made this years ago she always used plain water as the cooking medium. Over the years I have experimented and found that a light chicken stock makes a delicious variation, giving the final outcome a kick of flavor. This is one of the few times that you really do not need to use a rich homemade stock. I often use a low-salt canned chicken stock diluted with water and it works just fine. A word on the grain itself. I have read recipes that claim you can use regular cornmeal. If you substitute cornmeal for actual polenta you will have grits or porridge or mush, but not polenta. Every Italian grocery or deli, and some natural food stores that carry a supply of bulk grains, will have polenta. It should be coarse in texture and a deep golden color. The "instant" polenta is not worth the extra money. It cuts down the cooking time by a few minutes but has no other advantage and is much more expensive than bulk grain. Finally let's talk about serving methods. You can of course serve in individual shallow bowls, or family style in a large lipped platter. But the most fun is the "table" method. You must have an immaculately clean wooden table. You pour the hot polenta in a circle in the middle and by the time you've topped it with the sauce and called everyone to dinner it has set enough. Each person marks off their wedge and eats. Mama always put a few meatballs at the center to reward the fastest eaters. I wouldn't recommend this method when entertaining the boss, but it is great for family and friends. Mangia! ______________________________________ Soft Polenta To serve four generously
Use a large heavy bottomed pot. Add salt to boiling liquid. Pour the dry polenta in a slow steady stream into the boiling liquid, stirring with a wooden spoon the entire time. Turn heat to medium to reach a slow boil. Continue stirring, reaching all parts of the sides and bottom of the pan. The polenta will gradually thicken and requires constant stirring (very important). Cook 15 to 20 minutes in this fashion until the polenta is thick. Turn heat off, add butter and Parmesan, give a final stir to incorporate and serve immediately topped with sauce of your choosing. Altitude Adjustment: At 8,000 ft. water boils at 196 degrees, requiring a slightly longer cooking time; and more like 10 cups of liquid is needed. |
|