Casola’s Polenta Meschia or “Chained Polenta.”

Lhe Meschia di Casola is a cornmeal polenta enriched with beans, black cabbage, potatoes and lard, seasoned to taste with oil and Parmesan cheese. The ‘origin of this dish is not well defined but it can be said that it carries on the so-called “cucina povera” tradition of preparing food by mixing  (meschia), with ingredients available from the people.

It is also known in the rest of Lunigiana as “chained polenta” or frascadei or fr’gadèi, according to the dialectal inflection of the area.

It is a very tasty and hearty dish that is also good the next day, in fact once it is cooled and cut you can fry it and accompany it with slices of cheese. You can taste it at the  “Meschia Festival” at the “Papastrel Fest“ in Casola in Lunigiana at the end of July!

 

Would you like to try making it? Here is a version of the recipe

Ingredients:

  • 300 g of sifted corn flour
  • 150 g dried borlotti beans
  • 1 black cabbage
  • 50 g of grated parmesan cheese
  • Half a ladleful of evo olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 1.5 liters of water

 

Proceedings

Cook the beans in a saucepan with water and salt; when cooked, add the cleaned and cleaned cabbage. When the cabbage is also cooked, very carefully add the yellow flour without making lumps. The polenta should be left very soft and creamy, to get the right consistency add water and oil. After about 40 minutes of cooking it is ready to be served with oil and Parmesan cheese.