Arcevia, the pearl of the mountains of Ancona, has been famous for some years not only for its privileged location on unparalleled views, but also for its food and wine offer.
In particular, the excellences based on mais ottofile, an ancient variety of this cereal that has been cultivated and produced here since the mid-twentieth century, deserve a mention. Its flour is historically one of the protagonists of the local poor cuisine, used in particular for the preparation of polente, one of the typical excellences of Arcevia. The flourishing cultivation of this species of corn, in the course of the twentieth century, has been progressively supplanted by hybrids that guaranteed a higher productivity but at the expense of the organoleptic characteristics: from these derives a flour with a delicate aroma, intense aroma and very pleasant taste. The rediscovery, in more recent years, of the original cereal took place thanks to small family crops inspired by the presence in the area of the ancient water mill of the Spoletini family, on the Misa river: here, still today, the flour is ground to stone. The village of Arcevia dedicates to this product an annual festival, between the months of February and March: during the celebration, all local restaurateurs offer dishes of the peasant culture based on polenta. In addition to this specialty, octopus corn flour also features many other preparations such as pancakes or typical desserts such as bustrenga, as well as the famous biscuits.
The doses of water and flour
The dose of water for the traditional recipe is 4 times the weight of the flour to obtain a medium-consistency polenta.
For 4 people it is recommended to use 500g of corn flour in 2 liters of water.
If you want a more dense or softer polenta it will be enough to change the water - flour ratio.
Cooking time
Our traditional polenta flours contain the varieties of ancient Piedmontese maize Ottofile and Pignoletto and require cooking times of 60 minutes
The recipe for polenta that you don’t have to turn
Ingredients for 4 people:
500 grams of corn flour Ottofile/
2 litres of water
1 tablespoon of oil
sale grosso
Preparation
Salt the water, add a tablespoon of oil, heat the water over high heat,
When the first bubbles form, pour the flour, turning with a whisk so that no lumps form and bring to a boil.
At this point you can avoid turning the polenta again, continuing the cooking over low heat, with the lid on the pot.
At the end of cooking, uncover the pot and turn vigorously to evaporate the water,
The cooking time is at least 60 minutes.
Polenta is more pleasant and digestible the longer it is cooked.
