The dark mountain polenta of the Valtellina and the upper Bergamo valleys, in Alpine Lombardy. Buckwheat flour is cooked together with yellow cornmeal — roughly two parts buckwheat to one part corn — into a thick, grey-brown porridge, then enriched off the fire with plenty of butter and melting mountain cheese, classically Valtellina Casera or Bitto. It is stirred constantly in a copper pot until smooth and glossy, and served hot as a rich side or, with enough cheese, a main in its own right.
A staple of the Valtellina mountain diet, rooted in buckwheat, which was brought to the valley around the 16th century and thrived in its short summers and thin soils where wheat could not. Its name comes from the local dialect verb tarare — to stir — and from the tarèl (or tarai), the long wooden stick used to beat the polenta against the sides of the copper paiolo hung over the fire. Older, poorer households cooked an almost black polenta of pure buckwheat; adding cornmeal to soften its strong, earthy flavour produced the lighter mixture eaten today. The traditional cheeses, Valtellina Casera and Bitto, are long-established alpine cheeses of the valley.
Thick and spoonable, darker than ordinary golden polenta, with the speckled grey-brown colour of buckwheat. The taste is nutty and faintly earthy from the buckwheat, made rich and savoury by the butter and the melted cheese, which leaves long stretchy strands when you lift the spoon. The texture should be soft and creamy, not stiff or grainy. Good taragna is glossy and loose enough to pour slowly; overcooked or under-stirred, it turns pasty and heavy.
Cooking is about hydrating the starch: the cornmeal's starch granules swell and gelatinise in the simmering water to thicken the porridge, while buckwheat — which has no gluten — contributes flavour, colour and body but little elasticity, which is why corn is blended in for a workable texture. Constant stirring stops the grain settling and scorching on the pot and works air and water evenly through the mass. The cheese and butter go in at the end, off or low heat: the butterfat and the cheese's fat coat the starch and emulsify into the polenta, giving the glossy, stretchy creaminess; too hot, and the cheese seizes into rubbery clumps and weeps oil.
Variations
The cheese is the main variable: Valtellina Casera is the classic, but Bitto, Branzi or Fontina are used depending on the valley, each giving a different depth and pull. The buckwheat-to-corn ratio shifts too — more buckwheat for a darker, stronger polenta, more corn for a milder one. A close relative is polenta uncia (or polenta cuncia) of the Lake Como and Lecco area, cornmeal polenta layered or stirred with butter, garlic and cheese; pizzoccheri, the buckwheat pasta of the same valley, shares taragna's flour and cheeses.
On the Palate
Where Polenta Taragna sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
7 steps · 55 min active + 5 min waiting
- 15 min
Bring salted water to a gentle boil in a heavy pot, ideally copper.
- 23 min
Whisk in the buckwheat flour and cornmeal in a steady stream to avoid lumps.
- 345 min
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden stick or spoon, for about 40 to 50 minutes as it thickens.
Watch outStir constantly the whole 40 to 50 minutes — buckwheat and corn settle and scorch fast, and a burnt bottom ruins the pot.
- 45 min
Keep stirring so the polenta does not stick or scorch on the bottom, adding a little hot water if it gets too stiff.
- 54 min
When thick and cooked through, lower or turn off the heat and stir in the butter until melted.
- 65 min
Add the diced or grated mountain cheese and stir until it melts into a smooth, glossy, stretchy mass.
Watch outMelt the cheese in off or low heat — too hot and the fat splits out greasy instead of turning glossy and stretchy.
- 72 min
Serve immediately, very hot, while the cheese is still stringy.
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