Roma Lodge #1573

Polenta-A-Plenty

Polenta is a hearty porridge made from stone-round cornmeal, originated in Northern Italy and has roots that go back thousands of years.  In the 16th century, corn, also known as granoturco (Turkish grain), was introduced to Europe from the Americas and became the main ingredient in polenta.  The Friuli region of Italy was the first to use corn for polenta around 1550 AD.

For as long as anyone can remember Roma Lodge members have had a tradition of serving homemade polenta and stew at our November meeting.  Our meeting is usually the first Monday after the country switches to standard time, where it gets dark earlier, the weather turns a bit colder and everyone is looking forward to a hearty meal of polenta made with lots of butter and cheese served along with a steaming hot helping of homemade stew.  Delicious!

Over the years the lodge has had a lot of different members who have served up a great meal for lodge members to enjoy.  For the past several years the DePaoli Family have taken over the duties of making the stew and polenta for the meeting.  They have always put on a great meal.  If your lodge hasn’t had this long standing polenta dinner, you may want to bring it back to your lodge.