Mush by any other name

Call it porridge, mush, grits, polenta, mamaliga, gruel, or any dozens or even hundreds of other names. Soft and moist, cakey or soupy, sweet or savory, it's a big hit worldwide since humans decided to get to cooking. It is reasonable to think that humans eating mush certainly led to the first flatbreads. Some prehistoric cream of (ancient) wheat, some wild yeast, and a hot rock: these are all you need for flatbread. We will circle back around to the various consistencies of these variations later, depending on when you read this (I update old articles from time to time),

Puls: The Roman Take

The Romans that lived all over the Roman world ate farro and other seeds cooked in liquid (water always works, but so do most other liquids). Evidence suggests that other available grains and legumes (mainly spelt, millet and chickpeas) were cooked in this manner also. Although bread became preferred by the wealthier later, puls remained popular for the poor, states this webpage, which I rely upon heavily here.

 The webpage is a translation of De Re Coquinaria of Apicius, published by Walter M. Hill in1936. It is an excellent resource on the Roman kitchen. Apicius describes the preparation of Julian Meal Mush, or Pultes Julianae, a porridge made with brains and "forcemeat," (a meat puree like sausage or hamburger). This is remarkably similar to Sagamite, the Native American dish of fat, meat and corn. Of course, Apicius calls for "soaked, well-cleaned spelt," since Romans didn't have "corn" (Zea Mays Mays). 

Before the matter of how polenta became a dish made from corn, some explanation of how puls became polenta is in order. Pulticula and pulticulae are synomymous with puls. Polenta (a diminuation of the "puliticale") was the moniker given to the mush Italians started making from Native American "corn" after the Columbian Exchange. Corn "maize" was immensely popular with Italians, and it grew well in Italy.

Arguably polenta is currently one of Italy's more popular food offerings. It is easy to prepare and very flexible. An very tasty.

And that is how an Italian staple of Roman origin came to be made with a Native American grain.