“Granoturco” is the Italian term for “corn”, and it literally means “Turkish Wheat”. Where does this curious name come from? Probably this cereal reached the territory of Bergamo by means of the trades between Venice and Turkey.
Christopher Columbus discovered America, its continent of origin, in 1492, but it wasn’t until 1620 that it arrived to Italy: after the initial distrust, it was introduced in the local kitchen and soon became a delicious side for many types of food: cheese, mushrooms, game, eggs.
The most renowned dish prepared with corn is polenta: worldwide famous, it is firm and compact and must be cut with a thread. It can only be made by a slow cooking and an unceasing stirring, but it is definitely worth it!
Using corn to obtain polenta was not a common practice until this product arrived in the territory of Bergamo. It was a real breakthrough! In fact, Mayas did not know this kind of use of corn flour.
Bergamo polenta is an actual “must” and corn is a very significant part of Bergamo’s cuisine: this is the reason why the CREA-MAC – The research unit for corn farming was established in this city in 1920.
Over this territory, several traditional corn varieties grow, including the following ones: Rovetta’s Rostrato De. Co.,Gandino’ spinato De. Co., nostrano dell’Isola, Marne’s scagliolo, Stezzano’s cinquantino.
In Gandino, many delicious products were created with the local corn variety, the “spinato” or “rampì”: the spinetta (a hardtack), the pan spinato (corn bread), the Gandino’s pearls (corn flour raviolis), salty fritters, the delizia (an onion pie) and the spinata, a delicious mix between pizza and piadina.
Moreover, if you happen to visit Gandino in October, remember the celebration that takes place during the second Saturday of the month: it’s the so-called “Scartocciatura”, the husking of the cobs.
“Granoturco” is the Italian term for “corn”, and it literally means “Turkish Wheat”. Where does this curious name come from? Probably this cereal reached the territory of Bergamo by means of the trades between Venice and Turkey.
Christopher Columbus discovered America, its continent of origin, in 1492, but it wasn’t until 1620 that it arrived to Italy: after the initial distrust, it was introduced in the local kitchen and soon became a delicious side for many types of food: cheese, mushrooms, game, eggs.
The most renowned dish prepared with corn is polenta: worldwide famous, it is firm and compact and must be cut with a thread. It can only be made by a slow cooking and an unceasing stirring, but it is definitely worth it!
Using corn to obtain polenta was not a common practice until this product arrived in the territory of Bergamo. It was a real breakthrough! In fact, Mayas did not know this kind of use of corn flour.
Bergamo polenta is an actual “must” and corn is a very significant part of Bergamo’s cuisine: this is the reason why the CREA-MAC – The research unit for corn farming was established in this city in 1920.
Over this territory, several traditional corn varieties grow, including the following ones: Rovetta’s Rostrato De. Co.,Gandino’ spinato De. Co., nostrano dell’Isola, Marne’s scagliolo, Stezzano’s cinquantino.
In Gandino, many delicious products were created with the local corn variety, the “spinato” or “rampì”: the spinetta (a hardtack), the pan spinato (corn bread), the Gandino’s pearls (corn flour raviolis), salty fritters, the delizia (an onion pie) and the spinata, a delicious mix between pizza and piadina.
Moreover, if you happen to visit Gandino in October, remember the celebration that takes place during the second Saturday of the month: it’s the so-called “Scartocciatura”, the husking of the cobs.
In the past, when there was no tobacco available, kids used to hide among the corn and smoke “la barba del canù de la mèlga” – the corn’s cob beard wrapped rolled in a newspaper sheet or put inside pipes made of horse chestnut and elder wood.
Among the corn, children used to play hide and seek and they sometimes fell asleep waiting to be spotted.
