George M. Middius wrote:

>> See if you can find some ottofile polenta flour, it's amazing in
>> taste and its unmistakeable aroma spreads wonderfully in the air.

> Ottofile ... "eight threads"? What's that?

Yes, it's a cultivar of corn used in the alpine region for polenta, one of
the best. Another very good polenta corn is Marano, which is used in
"polenta di Storo" in Trentino region. Another very good one is "spin", who
gets its name from the peculiar thorn ("spina" in italian) which tops every
kernel. All of the three have spread to the nearby regions, some even as far
as central Italy, and they all have orange to red cobs. Here is a picture of
ottofile cobs:
http://www.carcassola.it/files/ottofile-pann-big.jpg