Roasted White Corn Polenta: Brick-oven Roasted and Stone-Ground.

An authentic Italian food-way: corn roasted on a fireplace, then milled. I use a brick pizza oven to roast the corn and this creates a flavor that is deliciously hard to describe. The aroma is nutty with distinct peanut butter overtones. the flavor is robust with hints of popcorn. As a bonus the roasting process also increases nutrition.

Click here for an easy polenta recipe.

This is a USDA Certified Organic Product.

Let's discuss polenta. Polenta predates corn's arrival in Italy. Before corn (Zea mays) was imported from the American continent to Europe, Europeans were making porridge out of a variety of grains and legumes. Polenta is Roman in origin. Buckwheat, farro (ancient wheat) spelt, and chickpeas were all foods used to make polenta. The name given to this dish of mush when it was prepared in the place we today call Italy was "polenta." Polenta is referred to by other names by other European cultures: In Romania it is called mamaliga, in France it is called l'escatoun.

Today it is not specified whether polenta is milled from field corn, it is assumed that it is, although some mills are still producing buckwheat and other varieties polenta.

To summarize: polenta is  a porridge made (generally) from corn. It is often finished with cheese. It could be fairly stated that polenta is Italian grits. If you were to serve grits to an Italian person, the would probably say, "oh, polenta."

Great for breading, or flour blends. Check out the hoecake recipe on our blog.

Check out this list of gristmills compiled by author Amy Halloran (thank you Amy!).

Here is a list of gristmills in South Carolina graciously compiled by SCIWAY.net. A very special thanks to Kerri.

We are proud members of the SCSFA.

We attend several farmer's markets in out local area: The Blythewood Farmer's Market, and the Richland County Public Library's Farmer's Market. Come visit us at the Farmer's Market!

We are also pleased to announce that Fundacion Tortilla was kind enough to include us in their directory of all things related to corn and nixtamal. Their primary focus is to preserve the diversity of indigenous corn culture. We are proud to be their allies.