[Sca-cooks] Which is which?

[Decker, Terry D.]

Semolina is the "middlings" from milling durum wheat.  It is a high gluten,
coarse wheat flour used in making pasta.

Polenta is an Italian dish of cooked grain flour molded into some shape
(barley and wheat were used in Antiquity, maize is used today).  If you have
"polenta meal" or "polenta flour," it is a fancy way of saying corn (maize)
meal.  Sometimes, you can get polenta that comes wrapped like a sausage or
cookie dough.  This is already cooked grain molded into a tube to be sliced,
heated and eaten.

If I had to replace semolina in a recipe, I would consider spelt flour, a
50/50 mix of whole wheat and white flour, whole wheat flour and white flour
in that order to approximate the gluten and texture of semolina.  In my
opinion, only the spelt would be a good trade for the semolina.

Locally, semolina runs about $1/pound where whole wheat and white flour run
$.20/pound, so I only keep 3 to 5 pounds on hand for specialized baking
projects.

Bear



> Is Semolina and Polenta the same thing or byproducts of
> something? And if I
> have a recipe calling for semolina, can I use polenta? Thanks!
>
> Misha