Polenta, derived from ottofile maize from the Pavia area, is not just a food but a celebration of local resources and ancient peasant customs. Often, as in this case, it is accompanied by game, a perfect combination.
What tradition is more linked to the Oltrepò Pavese than eating good polenta accompanied by game. A festive dish, typical of cold winters, which derives from the union of the products of the earth, such as maize, with the products of hunting. The result is a single dish that, with a side dish of vegetables, is complete.
The typical polenta of the area could be considered to be that made from the ottofile maize of Pavia. A variety that was widespread until the 1960s, then gradually abandoned. The product is a maize with a glassy appearance and hard consistency that ripens by August with sowing between May and June. Its use is strictly for the preparation of polenta, but recently it is being experimented with for other products such as beer and cake flour. Ottofile flour is used for pangialdini, typical Day of the Dead biscuits.
Today, the Pavia area‘s ottofile maize is limited to family production in the Versa and Staffora Valleys. The reason is the higher productivity of other types of maize from abroad, but a project is underway to recover this variety. Apparently, the meliga ottofile was the favourite of King Victor Emmanuel II, so much so that it earned the nickname ‘the king‘s meliga‘. Today, to preserve it, it is cultivated 500 metres away from other similar crops to keep it pure and is ground in artisanal stone or cylinder mills.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PERSONS
- 500 g ottofile maize polenta
- 2 l water
- 1 tablespoon coarse salt
- 40 g butter
For marinating the boar: juniper, peppercorns, onion, carrots, celery, salt, bay leaf and red wine
- 1 kg wild boar
- Celery, carrot and onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- Sage, rosemary
- 1 glass of red wine
- Extra virgin olive oil
- salt
PROCEDURE
Marinate the boar, cleaned and trimmed of fat, cut into even pieces with the wine, finely chopped vegetables and spices. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
Finely chop the vegetables and fry them in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and herbs. Brown the meat drained from the marinade to seal the surface and deglaze with red wine. Cook over a low heat for two hours, adding vegetable stock if necessary.
In a large saucepan, bring the salted water to the boil and pour in the ottofile maize flour. Cook for 50 minutes, taking care to stir constantly. At the end of the cooking time add the butter. Serve the polenta with the wild boar.
Wine pairing: Buttafuoco DOC Vigna Pitturina - Poggio Rebasti
