Celebrating polenta
The unmistakable scent of mountain corn
As the first cool days begin to set it, you begin to feel that certain peckishness of a single steaming dish. In Trentino, there is no doubt, it translates into desire for polenta.
So let’s welcome autumn with the first appointments of the season dedicated to this dish. The core ingredient is the Yellow Flour from Storo, made with a corn whose kernels are as red the autumn leaves that light up the mountain slopes. Have you ever seen houses sparkling with ruby grains in the sun? One may feel as if going back in time.
Hurry up and put a pin on your agenda. Don’t miss the opportunity to taste the flour when the cobs are freshly picked.
Autumn is a season that flies by and in the mountains it starts early!
Polenterchef
Last call on 14 September, at the Antica Vetreria di Carisolo, in Val Rendena, for the only event in which, under the guide of experts chefs, you stir polenta with your own hands! To do that, you will use a typical wooden spoon (called “trisa”) that is used to stir polenta when it boils in a copper pot over high heat. The polenta is that of Storo from the producers of Agri 90.
Polenta at high altitude
Until Tuesday 19 September, the Tognola Hut, in San Martino di Castrozza, awaits you at 2,200 metres a.s.l. to taste the typical dish overlooking the Dolomites! Storo Polenta with sausage, Toséla cheese and mushrooms, or with goulash or venison marinade. In short, at high altitudes, polenta conquers every palate!
Storo Polenta Festival
Mouth-watering events are held in Storo, on 1 and 2 October: a real battle of the trisa spoon fought among the polenta experts Valle del Chiese. On the menu: rich and tasty Polenta carbonera, unpretentious Potato Polenta, Polenta macafana, a single dish that is “poor” yet quite tasty, and Polenta “cucia”, combined with Alpine butter and mountain cheese. Just follow the scent!
The recipe for polenta Carbonera
Polenta as it once was, prepared with leftovers that fed generations and generations of mountain peasant families. This is the original recipe of the Agri ‘90 Cooperative, the one that produces the precious red gold of Storo. Bon Appétit!
