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1
Bring the water to a rolling boil in a copper or heavy iron cauldron (polentaru) over an open fire or wood-burning range. Add the salt. Begin adding the chestnut flour in a slow, steady stream — a thin rain — while stirring continuously with a long wooden paddle. Do not add the flour in bulk. The mixture is ready to proceed when all flour is incorporated and no dry pockets remain: the batter will be pale and thin, the colour of weak café au lait.
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2
Reduce the heat to a sustained, even medium. Stir without pause — long, deliberate strokes that reach the bottom and sides of the cauldron. Stopping for more than thirty seconds causes the chestnut starch to seize and burn against the pot: this is where the dish lives or dies. Maintain this continuous motion for thirty to forty minutes. The mixture will move through distinct stages — thin batter, then thickening porridge, then a cohesive, pulling mass. It is done when it has turned a uniform deep beige-brown throughout and pulls cleanly away from the cauldron sides as a single body, leaving the pot almost clean.
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3
Test the set: press one finger firmly into the surface of the mass. It should yield cleanly, leaving a defined indent, and should not stick to the finger. A sticky or gluey response indicates either a too-wet ratio or under-cooked starch; continue stirring for a further five minutes and test again.
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4
Turn the pulenda immediately onto a clean, damp cloth or wooden board. Work quickly — cooling firms the mass to the consistency of stiff cake and destroys the yielding texture. Shape into a round or cylindrical form as it settles. Slice at once using a taut length of twine or wire drawn cleanly through the mass. Knife-cutting compresses the open, aerated interior and is considered incorrect. The cut face should show a dense but slightly open crumb, beige-brown and uniform, with no pale or granular centre.
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5
Taste a small piece immediately. The flavour should be dominated by chestnut sweetness with a faint background of smoke from the dried flour; the finish is clean starch, bland by design, built to absorb charcuterie fat. Any raw-flour taste indicates under-cooking; any bitterness indicates stale or rancid flour. Serve within ten minutes of turning out, alongside grilled figatellu, cold brocciu, and sliced coppa or lonzu.