Cookie Cutter wrote:
> Frogleg wrote:
>
>> On 10 May 2004 11:14:04 GMT, (ASmith1946)
>> wrote:
>>
>>> It seems to me that we have several interesting threads within
>>> this discussion.
>>
>> Anyone care to bring polenta to the boil? Another New World
>> ingredient that's "typically Italian."
>
> Polenta and cornmeal mush are the same thing.
They *can be* the same thing. But they aren't necessarily the same.
Different kinds of corn, processed differently give different finished
results. Different cooking techniques give different results. Some
people hereabouts in Virginia make mush in double boilers. Decidedly
not a traditional Italian approach.
> They are both cornmeal and water.
And don't forget the salt. But it's not that simple. Here in the
American south where I live, mush can be made with many different
ingredients like milk, sugar, egg, bacon fat, etc.
My northern Italian family eats polenta that's bare bones yellow corn
meal, water and salt with never another thing added to that basic
formula. Others have their variants, but polenta is typically seen as
a foil for other foods rather than something to stand out on its own.
> So polenta is not unique or original to Italy. African countries
> that use a lot of corn probably have their own versions.
I don't think anyone said that it was uniquely Italian. Most likely,
anywhere they grow corn has a variation of the basic boiled dried,
cracked corn. According to Gary Jennings in private conversation some
years back, the Aztecs made a gruel from lightly cracked corn simmered
for a long time. I've come to the conclusion that the only thing new
under the sun is "Non-fat coffee cream" (honest. At my sister's house
yesterday).
> Fancy Old World polenta has a little parmesan added.
Not necessarily, and not usually.
> Fancy New World cornmeal mush has a little cheddar added to the
> dish.
I guess it depends on where you live and what the traditions there
are. And don't forget grits (made from hominy rather than plain ground
corn).
Pastorio