The Polenta Variations

With the weather now being of a rather more winter timbre in Montevideo and with rice and pasta prices continuing to rise, a new food era has begun. For most of my time here, rice was my go-to food - that white, yummy base that could go with virtually any other food and come out delicious...you can even make it a dessert. Now, though, it's POLENTA TIME.

For those of you who might not be familiar with polenta, it is a northern Italian dish, made from cornmeal, that is most typically eaten as a kind of thick porridge, most often with marinara sauce. but not always. You can, however, take the polenta in porridge-ish form, add whatever else you like to it, and bake or fry it, or you can make it into a dessert by cooking it with milk and sugar instead of water. If you are a Texan, think "grits," and you will have a reasonably good, although not perfect, idea of what polenta is. It is extremely popular in Uruguay during the winter, since...

1. Roughly half of Uruguayans claim Italian descent, and most of those can trace their roots to northern Italy - Piemonte, Lombardia, and Liguria (Genova).
2. It's cheap - all you need is cornmeal, or instant polenta for those times when you want it NOW
3. It's cold and damp, and there's nothing quite like hot polenta to fill you up.

It is so popular, in fact, that there are even kiddie songs involving polenta, and it has worked its way into Uruguayan slang...if you want to tell the kids to sing with gusto, a nice "ay, chicos, por favor - con polenta!" will get your point across.

So, polenta has essentially taken over my life from all possible angles. If the spring and summer were my "1000 things to do with rice" kitchen era, the late fall and winter are looking to be "1000 ways to make polenta." Here are three quick and easy ways to experience the joy that is polenta. I say quick - they're quick and easy if you're using instant polenta. If you're going at it with cornmeal, you'll be stirring the polenta slowly and constantly for about an hour - if you can't find it instant, you might want to invite a friend over to take a turn stirring...just call it bonding time. Oh, and other caveat - if you like Fannie Farmer-esque precise measurements, do not read on - I have not used a measuring cup in about a year and like it that way.

-POLENTA CON TUCO-
The classic. You'll need, to feed two:

2 cups instant polenta or cornmeal
6 cups-ish of boiling water - less water means thicker polenta, more water means thinner. A 2.5-or-3 to 1 ratio is the recommended rule of thumb. I personally go with 2.5.
salt and oil to taste

Bring the water to a boil, add quite a bit of salt and a fairly sizeable drizzle of (preferably olive) oil...the salt is needed for the taste, and oil helps with the consistency. If you're using instant, throw it in, take the water/polenta mix off the heat and stir it until it reaches a smooth consistency. If you're using cornmeal, have fun and try not to get tennis elbow.

Now, the tuco (sauce):
tomato sauce (of the variety that comes in cans or, in Uruguay, boxes and is just tomato in liquid form without anything extra...I'd use 350-500 mL)
1 small-to-medium onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1 small-to-medium bell pepper, diced
1 can of tomatoes, diced (you can use fresh, too)
if they have these in the US, one Knorr's Flavor Cube (looks like a bouillon cube, but is seasonings rather than soup base)...I'd recommend Provençal, Garlic-Basil, Traditional Marinara...anything like that. If those haven't made it to the US yet, omit it and just add more of the following to compensate
black pepper
salt (only add this if you can't find the Flavor Cube)
rosemary
basil
oregano

Saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a little bit of olive oil. Add flavor cube, cut up into little pieces (if applicable). Let the flavor cube pieces cook into the vegetables for a few minutes; add the liquid tomato. Add the canned tomato and other spices; let simmer for at least 20 minutes to combine all the flavors. Once the polenta is done, pour some sauce on top of it and buen provecho!

-POLENTA CON JAMÓN Y QUESO-

This one's even easier to make...this is definitely a Monday night meal, especially with instant polenta. Follow above directions for cooking the polenta, maybe adding some herbs this time, or substituting the salt for...a Knorr's Flavor Cube (I swear they're not paying me for the product placement). Then add finely diced or shredded cheese (maybe a 40/40/20 mix of Mozzarrella, Gruyere or other Swiss, and Parmesan or Romano), diced ham (cold cuts will work just fine), stir it until the cheese melts, and voila. In Uruguay, you can buy, for about $1.20, a small tray of already diced assorted cheese and lunchmeat in the supermarket - the portioning is about perfect for making this dish.

-POLENTA CON DULCE DE HIGO-

I get to claim this recipe as my own; this one isn't particularly traditional, but it is tasty - a nice cold weather dessert that's not overpoweringly sweet. The amount of polenta stays the same, as does the proportion of liquid, but instead of water, salt, and oil, you'll need:

milk
sugar - at least 1/3 cup; more if you want it really sweet.
2 good dashes of vanilla extract


Cooking method stays the same. Now, the fig part. You'll need:

several ripe figs, chopped
plenty of brown sugar
water - maybe 2/3-3/4 cup
aniseed, to taste
a dash of vanilla extract

Put the chopped figs in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the water, brown sugar, aniseed, and vanilla: simmer until the figs are falling apart and the water/sugar have turned into a relatively thick syrup...something like a runny jam. Pour the fig mixture over the polenta and enjoy.