Polenta is a typical poor food of the North of Italy, that has been for centuries the main food, above all, for people living in the valleys of the Alps.

That we know today is made with maize flour and diffused itself in Europe only after its discovery of America, the native land of maize.
Before then, back to the Roman age, polenta was prepared with various cereals like barley, sorghum, spelt, millet, rye and also chestnut or acorn flour, in the periods of famine.

The YELLOW polenta, made with maize flour, appeared in the XVI century, with the first cultivations in the Bergamo mountains valleys.
Since then, the maize cultivation and polenta spread quickly in the whole North Italy, thanks to its low cost and the high satiety feeling that caused (due to the water absorbed) that allowed also the poorest to eat.
But, in those valleys, polenta was already known, before the discovery of America, but it was made with buck-wheat.
Still today, the so-called POLENTA TARAGNA is made with a mix of maize and buck-wheat flour.

But eating only polenta, or nearly, caused the diffusion of the PELLAGRA, a malnutrition disease, due to the lack of PP-vitamin in maize and defeated only in the XX century, simply allowing people a more varied diet.

The WHITE POLENTA, is prepared with the white maize, a variety cultivated in North Italy, especially, around the Po River Delta.

The maize flour for polenta can be crushed more roughly, obtaining the "bramata" flour or in finest way, obtaining the "fioretto" flour.
The polenta made with the first must cook longer, about 1 hour and the polenta obtained is less fluid, while that obtained with the "fioretto" flour is finest and homogeneous.
Normally, polenta is made with a balanced mix of thr two flours.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE
Polenta is not a heavy food, rich of calories, but its calorie content is even less than that of pasta although variable, while the calories given by pasta remain constant, for 100 g of product.
In fact, polenta calories (80-130 calories/100 g of product) depend on its hydration grade and, hence, from its consistence, so that a more concentrated polenta (with less water) contains more calories.

The DIPS traditionally used with polenta are normally much richer in fats and calories than polenta (cheese, butter, meat sauces...) and it's enough to use light vegetables dips for not having diet problems and eat an hypo-caloric and satisfying meal.

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