4. Polenta Taragna – Nonna Maria's Cucina Alpina

This is not the pre-cooked ‘instant’ polenta found at the supermarket, the fine, pale, runny restaurant kind resembling potato purée, nor crispy polenta sticks baked at the pub. Polenta in Valtellina is coarsely ground cornmeal, golden with grey and black speckles of earthy buckwheat grout and thick with–you guessed it–copious amounts of butter and mountain cheese. 

Polenta taragna can be a full meal in itself, not just a side dish. Traditionally, it was stirred for close to an hour until tender, with a long softwood spoon (canna della polenta) in a large copper pot over the flames of an open fire, then poured out onto a wooden board in the middle of the table. Even today, Alberto's family cooks it on a special stove, as seen in the photo below. It reminds me of how my paternal grandmother in Japan continued to cook white rice (which, after all, formed the basis of their meals three times a day) in a heavy claypot instead of succumbing to the convenience of electric rice cookers that could keep leftovers warm automatically.

The term 'Polenta' actually means porridge. Buckwheat had always been the grain of choice in this area, as it was too cold and mountainous to grow wheat. Like in French, Grano Saraceno is the Italian name for buckwheat, literally ‘Saracen’s grain’, as buckwheat was introduced by the Turks. When corn later arrived from the New World, it was dried, stoneground and cooked in the same way. As seen in Mexican cuisine, there are countless varieties of corn, and in Italy some heirloom ones have been milled into polenta for centuries. 

With a creamy texture and almost nutty taste, the exceptional dairy products of Valtellina come from the grey Swiss cows grazing on the hills. At the local cheesemonger, the products don’t even have names– they are labelled by their origin, age and fat content. For example, “Bormio Giovane Semi-grasso” is a semi-fatty young cheese from the town of Bormio.

In addition to the coarse buckwheat flour which is impossible to find even online, the local cheese is also something we bring back in our suitcases or have sent over by Alberto’s family. Bitto is produced in the summer, when the cows graze in the high meadows, and contains about 10% goat milk. It tastes stronger than Casera, which is made in the remaining months of the year and is typically ripened less. Whilst I have seen Casera and Bitto at Melbourne delis, Fontina, Asiago, or Taleggio are some viable alternatives. 

Grass-fed butter or, even better, the unpasteurised kind from France is easier to come by, and cooking everything with browned butter plus sage is the quickest way to transport yourself to Valtellina. Fish, poultry, steak? Check! Ravioli filled with ricotta! Pillows of gnocchi! Even plain spaghetti will do (just don’t neglect to salt the water). As opposed to the olive oil of southern Italy, butter is the gold standard for cooking in this region. When Alberto first moved to Melbourne, fellow inhabitants of his sharehouse were shocked to see him frying eggs using only butter.  

In Japan, soy has traditionally been used in cooking instead of dairy, in various forms from milk to fermented (Nattou). Yuba resembles Stracciatella, and there is also Kinako, a powdered form used in desserts. Until recently, soy products were delivered on push bikes, the forlorn sound of a distinctive horn signalling the tofu-seller’s arrival to the neighbourhood. Fresh tofu swimming in its water is almost like mozzarella, and incomparable with packaged varieties. 

Cow’s milk is commonly consumed in Japan, even as the standard drink at school lunches, but due to a lack of grazeland plus high import taxes, butter is prohibitively expensive, and artisanal cheese is typically imported. Therefore, the idea that the cheesy, buttery Polenta Taragna or Pizzoccheri is considered ‘rustic peasant’s food’ in Italy goes a bit over my head. But then again, fresh seafood can be expensive in inland areas like Valtellina, whilst it is something that has been virtually free in my father’s hometown, a fishing village in western Japan. There, my paternal grandmother, who was a farmer, was working the fields even whilst pregnant, subsisting on a diet of white rice and pickles, with fish and soy as protein sources. 

Just as tomatoes became indispensable in what is now southern Italy, corn, also a New World crop, saved the population of today’s northern Italy from food shortages at various points in history. However, over-reliance on polenta (likely cooked with water and not much else) sometimes resulted in nutrient deficiencies. “Polentone” (big polenta eater) is a put-down aimed at people from the North, which has in general been the more industrialised and wealthy counterpart to the South. You know a country is food-obsessed when their insults are based upon pantry staples– for example, "Mangiamaccheroni" (pasta eaters) of Naples, or the "Mangiafagioli" (bean-eaters) of Tuscany. 

Studded with cooked potatoes and spread out on a tray to cool, leftover polenta solidifies to the point that it becomes a savoury polenta cake. Once it sets firmly, it is sliced and grilled until it develops a crust (Polenta alla griglia).

Nonna Maria has a story from her rural schoolgirl days in the valley, when winters were harsh and food was scarce, particularly around World War II. To the teacher’s question, “What have you eaten at home?” one boy answered, “Soup.” “How much?” he was then asked, to which he replied, “Three slices.” That’s how his fib was revealed, that he actually had boring old polenta. If they only knew the lengths we now go through to bring back coarse buckwheat flour and clear customs at Australian airports!

Polenta Taragna Recipe

Serves 4

• 200 g buckwheat flour

• 100 g coarse polenta flour* 

• 150 g butter, cubed

• 300 g Casera** cheese, cubed

• Fine sea salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

1. Pour 1.5 litres of water into a large pot and add salt. Bring to the boil and sprinkle in both types of flour together, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 minutes. 

2. Gradually beat in the butter. 

3. When the polenta has absorbed all the butter, add the cheese. 

4. Continue to stir for a few more minutes, then serve while hot. 

*In Australia, I have purchased Polenta Taragna flour (a mix of coarsely ground corn and buckwheat at Morning Market and lario.com.au)

**Semi-hard cheese from Lombardy (if Casera or Bitto are not available, some alternatives include Fontina from Valle d’Aosta, or the French Comté).

#polenta #valtellina