Polenta -- simmered cornmeal -- is one of Italy's most popular staple foods. Prized for its versatility, it can be paired with both savory and sweet flavors.
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Polenta comes in many forms; it can be chewy, gluey, crispy or extremely creamy.
There are three main regions in the country's north where it's particularly popular -- Veneto (pictured), Lombardy and Piedmont.
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The version of polenta people know and love today has its roots in the Americas. It all started when Christopher Columbus brought the 'exotic' crop of maize, or corn, back with him to the Old Continent, which was unfamiliar with the commodity until his voyage in 1492.
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A woman cooks fried polenta, also called "sgagliozza" in Bari, Italy.
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In Lombardy's Sondrio province, polenta taragna is a typical dish made up of a mixture of maize flour and buckwheat flour.
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Italian Communist Party militants hand out servings of polenta during the Festa dell'Unita in Milan in 1979.
