In a pot drop about 2 litres of water and a pinch of cooking salt. When
the water boils, pour about 500 gr. of sieved maize flour and mix all
this stuff during the whole cooking which will last about 30/40 minutes.
Then, using a spoon, put the "gnocchi" (small dumpling made
of potato semolina or other ingredient) in a dish and dress them with
abundant meat sauce or mushroom sauce and many grated Parmesan cheese.
This course dates back to the XVIII century and it fed many generations.
If the maize flour was cooked as polenta (porridge), in copper pot on
the hearth, it was then dished out on a table and cut with cotton thread.
It was usually dressed with the famous herring. This fish was hung on
the ceiling by its tail and people used to pass two slices of polenta
in order to flavour them. This poor nutrition, lacking of PP vitamin,
was the reason of a disease called "pellagra", which spread
between the people of Mugello.
Text Tebaldo Lorini
Translated by Gianna Toni
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