the joy of making homemade polenta

by Rachael / Comment posted in Products / Recipes / Seasonal / Sides / Winter

The Joy of Making Homemade Polenta
Photos Amy Sheridan

It occurs to me that in my life, few things can make me slow down and take a pause. I never let my electric toothbrush finish its cycle-I‚Äôm too busy to spare the two minutes. In yoga I still think more about my behind than leaving the world behind. But made correctly, on a rare crisp California day, polenta requires I slow down a bit, if only for 40 minutes. The rhythmic stirring, the required attention. I find myself rocking back and forth, side to side as I stir at my stove, remembering my mother‚Äôs breakfast polenta (we called it Mush) and how it filled our kitchen as it cooked on the wood stove when I was young. Finally remembering to relax and let go. The only other thing that comes this close to relaxing me is a hot towel from the dryer.

Italian cuisine is often referred to as the food of the poor: la cucina povera. Especially in Northern Italy, polenta sustained the workers long before corn was introduced from the New World. First made with chestnut, farro, spelt and even acorn flour, the grain was mixed with water and cooked on a hot stone. Meant only to sustain the pains of hunger. Meant only to fill an empty tummy. But the human stomach has a memory, even if that stomach belonged to our ancestors. The food of the poor meant only to sustain now becomes a luxury, a potion used to calm and sooth a tired body. The smell that once meant relief to hunger now brings relief to stress. The taste that once brought delight in fullness now brings delight to the senses and fullness to the soul. It makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s why we crave the food our mother made (and that could be anything from Hamburger Gravy to Ants on a Log). What are we looking for when we look to be fed? To be full. To be taken care of. And sometimes that means taking care of ourselves.

I encourage everyone to make a polenta, the old fashioned way, at least once. You can now make polenta in a pressure cooker, in the oven; there are even gadgets that you can plug in that will stir it for you. Technology continues to advance to save us time but actually robs us of it. Allow yourself those 40 minutes. Breathe in the steam, rock a little as you stir and try to appreciate this “golden food‚” the food of the Italian poor for so many centuries. But more than that, in this modern world, appreciate the time making a polenta allows you to just be.