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Monte Cervino - The Matterhorn
Pausing for lunch on the slopes demands something warming – and who
cares about carbs when you’re burning all that energy? One of my most
enduring food memories is stomping into a steamy on-piste bar, under the
brow of the Matterhorn (or Monte Cervino as the Italians call it) for a
dish of ‘polenta grassa’ (fat polenta).
Here in Breuil-Cervinia in Northern Italy, the lunchtime menu still runs
very much to polenta. In fact, here’s the “typical menu” from the
Bar Ristoro Pousset, superbly positioned on the slopes above this
fashionable ski-town.
Menu Tipico :
Polenta Valdostana, Zuppa Valpellinentze, Polenta e Salsiccia,
Polenta e Spezzatino
Piatti Particolari:
Polenta e Gulash, Polenta e Funghi Porcini, Polenta e Camoscio,
Polenta e Cervo, Polenta e Cinghiale, Polenta e Capriolo
As you can see, apart from the zuppa, it’s pretty much polenta all the
way. You can have it with sausages, stew, goulash, mushrooms, chamois,
venison, wild boar or goat. However the dish at the top of the list is
my old favourite – polenta grassa under its other name, Polenta
Valdostana. Served in a dangerously hot earthenware dish, it consists of
layers of soft polenta, butter and the unctuous fontina cheese of the
Val D’Aosta, whacked in the oven until the cheese melts.
Polenta, yellow maize flour, is one of the staple foods of northern
Italy, particularly of Lombardy and the Veneto, where boiled polenta
very often takes the place of bread. It’s not very exciting in its plain
boiled form, but Polenta Grassa is something else entirely. It’s not
difficult to make, as long as your stirring arm is in good nick. Or you
could try the new instant polenta versions and skip the hard work.
Polenta Grassa – Serves 4
1 ½ litres water
400g polenta
250g fontina cheese
25g butter (Italians would use unsalted)
salt, white pepper
Boil the water in a sturdy pot then pour in the polenta, stirring.with a
wooden spoon until it is a thick, smooth mass. Cook slowly, stiring more
or less constantly for the time specified on the pack – 20 to 50
minutes. If you’re using “instant polenta” follow the directions on the
pack.
Have ready a buttered, ovenproof dish. Spread it with a layer of
polenta, and on this put slices of fontina, and small pieces of butter;
then another layer of polenta, and more cheese and butter.
Cook in the oven or under the grill until the top is browned.
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A
ski lunch - Jan O'Connell
