The key difference between polenta and cornmeal is that the polenta is a dish you make with cornmeal whereas the cornmeal is simply an ingredient.
Many people confuse the two words polenta and cornmeal. However, these are not the same. Cornmeal is a coarse flour made with ground corn. We can use cornmeal to make a variety of dishes. Polenta is one such dish, which has its origin in Italy.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Polenta
3. What is Cornmeal
4. Side by Side Comparison – Polenta vs Cornmeal in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Polenta?
Polenta is an Italian dish made with boiled ground corn. Italians typically make this dish with flint corn. Making polenta involves cooking flint corn with a liquid like water or milk. Once it is cooked, you can either serve it as hot porridge or allow it to solidify. You can bake, fry or grill the solidified polenta loaf. Some people even make cookies out of polenta.
Figure 01: Baked Polenta
Polenta is perfect for vegans and vegetarians since it only contains ground corn and water. It is a great accompaniment for many vegetable stews and casseroles. Since polenta has a bland taste, you can serve with either savory or sweet dishes. Tomato sauce is a simple topping you can use to flavor to polenta. Most people make polenta with yellow cornmeal, which is commonly available in supermarkets.
What is Cornmeal?
Cornmeal refers to a coarse flour made from ground corn. Thus, it is an ingredient, not a dish. Cornmeal is a common staple food in various regions. Although it has various consistencies as fine, medium and coarse, it is not as fine as wheat flour. Some people also call cornmeal as corn flour.
Figure 02: Cornmeal
There are various types of cornmeal, including stone-ground cornmeal, white cornmeal, blue cornmeal, and steel-ground yellow cornmeal. Stone-ground cornmeal is coarser than steel-ground cornmeal, which has a uniform texture. You can use cornmeal to make various dishes like cornbread, grits, polenta, Mălai, kachamak, cornmeal mush, and corn chips.
What is the Difference Between Polenta and Cornmeal?
The difference between polenta and cornmeal is that the polenta is an Italian dish made with boiled ground corn whereas the cornmeal refers to a coarse flour made from ground corn. Thus, polenta is a dish whereas cornmeal is an ingredient. Further, there are various types of cornmeal. Most people use yellow cornmeal to make polenta.
Summary – Polenta vs Cornmeal
Cornmeal is a coarse flour made from ground corn. We can use cornmeal to make a variety of dishes. Polenta is one such dish, which has its origin in Italy. Thus, the key difference between polenta and cornmeal is that polenta is a dish whereas cornmeal is an ingredient.
Image Courtesy:
1.”1429812″ by TheUjulala (CC0) via pixabay
2.”Breading” By Leena (talk) – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia