Polenta Taragna Valtellinese con Formaggi di Malga
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The working recipe — the Market List, the Method, and where it lives or dies
I
Origin
Valtellina and Valchiavenna, Lombardia
II
Description
Polenta Taragna is the buckwheat-enriched polenta of the Valtellina and Valchiavenna: a 60/40 blend of fine maize flour and buckwheat flour (grano saraceno) cooked for 45–60 minutes in a copper paiolo with constant stirring, finished with cubed Bitto, Casera, or Scimudin cheese from alpine summer dairies and generous unsalted butter. The buckwheat gives a grey-green colour, a nutty, slightly bitter depth, and a rougher texture than plain polenta. It is the cold-weather staple of the Lombard Alps.
III
The Thread
—Cross-border alpine polenta with buckwheat flour and local dairy — the Swiss neighbour to Taragna Swiss · (Graubünden)
—Buckwheat flour cooked and pressed — the same grain used in a different but equally traditional preparation Breton
—Cornmeal polenta enriched with a local salty cheese — the Eastern European parallel Romanian
IV
Flavour Context
Nutty, slightly bitter buckwheat polenta with stringy alpine cheese and brown butter — a grey-green bowl of mountain warmth that could only come from the Lombard Alps
Pillars V — VII
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