On Fri, 06 May 2005 23:08:14 -0400, "Bob (this one)" >
wrote:

>LenS wrote:
>
>> Polenta is a European dish made from boiled yellow cornmeal, popular
>> in Italy, I believe, made somewhat like good old cornmeal mush.
>
>Northern Italy, up near the alps.
>
>> While I'm no expert (I'm just learning my way around polenta) it is
>> made from yellow cornmeal and served with lunch or dinner as a sort of
>> vegetable, having been flavored with various ingredients including
>> onion, garlic, other vegetables or sometimes meat products. It's also
>> served simply with butter.
>
>Not quite. Not served as a vegetable.
>
>Northern Italians most often serve it plain as a base for other dishes.
>It's not a side dish, it's a bed for other foods as noodles and rice
>sometimes are.
>
>My grandparents made polenta to go under stews or braised dishes. It's
>how I saw it served in northern Italy. Some people add things, but
>generally, it's very scantily seasoned or augmented.
>
>Pastorio

OK, thanks for the information about polenta. As I said, I'm just
learning my way around this lovely dish.

I don't see it served very often, at least not in the restaurants
where my wife and I hang out in Chicago's northwestern suburbs. I have
seen it served in a little mound with no sauce along with a steak.

No matter. I can see it's time for me to do some reading and
experimenting.

Again, thanks,

-Len