Gold and yellow and creamy, instantly made, recognisable taste and top quality. The Zlato polje polenta has been trending for over 50 years. This year’s jubilee gives polenta another golden shade. You can find it on the shelves in a golden jubilee box.

The golden anniversary of the golden polenta – 50 years of recognisable flavour and tradition.

Polenta. So simple, yet still trending. Gold and yellow and creamy, instantly and simply made, recognisable taste and top quality. The dish that our grandmothers and mothers used to make us; the dish that spurs the imagination of modern chefs with its various culinary options. It is versatile and has been inspiring and marking several generations, so it justly incites the feeling of homeliness and tradition. Think about it: who does not know or has not tasted the Žito polenta in its distinctive golden packaging that has been with us for an honourable half a century.

It was first produced as polenta, then in 1994 after almost 25 years of independent production it joined the Zlato polje brand, which was established in 1990, with rice together with semolina, buckwheat žganci and maize žganci. Since then, we have known it under the name Zlato polje polenta, which has remained unchanged all this time due to its quality and flavour. Just the way we like it best. To tell you when this delicious food arrived in this area, we have to go further back in history.

With Columbus to Europe, then across Italy to us

Maize is the basis we usually use to make polenta. In general, the word polenta means a dish made of cereal meal or flour cooked in salted water. Older versions (before maize was brought to Europe) were already known by the Romans, who made it from barley, spelt, rye, millet, buckwheat and chestnut. Today we mainly eat maize polenta, which would not exist if Christopher Columbus had not brought corn from the Americas to Europe in 1493. From the Iberian peninsula, maize was brought through France to northern Italy, then to our territory and then further on to the Balkans.

Since the beginning, it was considered a food of the common people and was not very popular. Only when the population started growing in the 18th century did the production of maize and consequently the preparation of polenta increase significantly. In Slovenia, we have adopted it completely, and it is served practically throughout the entire country, most commonly in the Primorska region and least commonly in the Prekmurje region. We can certainly claim that polenta has long been deeply rooted in the Slovenian culinary tradition.

A half a century long tradition of polenta

As we have said – polenta appeared in our territory 50 years ago, so we now celebrate its 50th anniversary. Believe it or not – what started the production of the now well-known Zlato polje polenta was the setting of fruit and vegetable drying machines in Gradišče pri Kozini in the beginning of the 1960s.

When several years later they no longer needed them for drying, they decided to use the steam drum with a large capacity to make instant semolina. In this procedure, the maize semolina is steamed for a short period of time (approx. 125°C), dried with hot air (approx. 180°C) and sifted (rough and fine fractions are separated, so everything under 0.4 mm and over 1 mm is discarded). The dietary and biological value of polenta has not changed, and the processed polenta can now be ready in only two minutes.

In 1970 the first production line for making instant polenta was set up, the process went full steam ahead and in five years another line was established. In the early days a worker hand-packed 360 boxes of instant polenta a day, while the machine packaging that started in the mid-1990s increased this number to over 4000 bags per worker per day. Nowadays, with production in Zlato polje almost 90% automated, this number has reached 12.000 bags per day.

On a yearly basis over 2 million packs of polenta are made, over half of which is the classic polenta. Over the years, classic polenta has been joined by other types, such as organic polenta made of 100% organically produced ingredients, white polenta made of white corn and red or wholegrain polenta.

The Zlato polje brand of polenta has been a synonym of top quality, the preparation requires the exclusive use of the quality variety “semi-flint”, which is very low in fat content (2%). This is why it is most commonly prepared in our territory, and it is well-known in former Yugoslavian countries, has long been well-known and appreciated in Russia, and the unbreakable bond with home cooking is also present in Slovenian emigrants in Canada, the USA and Sweden.

Two minutes, water and golden polenta – this is all you need!

The preparation for classic polenta is simple, but it takes a long time to cook over a low heat in an open pot or a heavy saucepan. It takes at least half an hour (in certain recipes even 45 minutes or more) with continuous stirring with a wooden spoon until a smooth and evenly cooked result is achieved. This requires no special knowledge or skills, only patience. However it is time consuming, so polenta lovers find it much more practical to use Zlato polje polenta, which is ready in only a few minutes.

Polenta can be cooked until it is soft or dense. When cooked hard, they used to put it on a wooden plate, cut it into cubes and set it on the table so everyone could serve themselves. The recognisable taste can also be improved with a dressing. You can add some butter or oil while boiling the water, and when polenta is cooked, you can add butter, cream, bacon, sausage, prosciutto, minced lard, cracknels or fried onion on top. Some people like fresh or sour milk with their polenta, and they also add cheese or eggs. If it is baked, it can be eaten as a tasty side dish for meat, fish and vegetable dishes.

Polenta should never be considered just as a side dish because you can prepare it as a snack, main course or even dessert. Find recipes for crunchy or roasted polenta sticks, prepare a polenta pizza, enjoy the sweetness of a lemon cake with polenta or prepare frozen polenta as a refreshing dessert on hot summer days.

Simple and versatile, ours for 50 years

The basis of quality life is wholesome food that provides the body with all vital nutrients and protective substances. Important here are cereals that in addition to carbon hydrates also contain vegetable proteins, very little fat, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre – all in perfect ratios. Due to their nutritional and energy value, they are the basis of a wholesome diet, and polenta is no exception here.

A bowl of golden yellow polenta is a versatile dish, has a low fat content and is easily digestible. It does not contain any chemical additives or preservatives because it is 100 percent natural. The Zlato polje polenta has maintained the same recipe and preparation process since the very beginning; its packaging, which has only undergone minimal changes, is also extremely recognisable and has called to the people from the shelves for 50 years.

If someone told us in the beginning that polenta would leave such a strong mark and reach its golden anniversary, we might not have believed them. In addition to its recognizable taste and top quality, this type of polenta can be used in different types of dishes, so its golden yellow packaging will continue to tempt us from the shelves.