Product Profile:

Corn was introduced to Italy in around the 16th century and quickly became popular when it was ground into fine flour and used to create one of the favorite dishes of Northern Italy: Polenta. The best polenta comes from the Lombardia region, particularly around the area of Bergamo north of Milan, where strains of corn are selectively bred and grown. It is in Bergamo, where the Moretti family has been growing corn and making choice polenta since 1922. Carefully selected varieties of corn are air-dried in open barns until hardened. The kernels are then carefully stone ground and packaged into air-tight sealed bricks to retain freshness and superior flavor.

Today, in many parts of Italy, particularly in the north, polenta is still preferred to pasta. Polenta is an incredibly versatile product and relatively easy to prepare, however sometimes time consuming. Whether presented in a wedge or a thickening puddle, polenta makes a wonderful warm side dish that complements so many other flavors – a vegetable fricassee, a meat ragu, with fresh herbs & cheese mixed-in or just served alone, the possibilities are endless. Polenta Taragna is made with coarsely ground yellow cornmeal flecked with ground buckwheat. Buckwheat thrives in the Italian Alps so it's only natural to combine it with yellow cornmeal polenta.