Ahh you know fall has arrived in Piobbico when you smell polenta! Last weekend was the annual Festa della Polentone alla Carbonara - Festival of Polenta made over an open fire! It was a gorgeous fall day, the streets filled with hungry visitors, festive music, good wine (a euro a glass) & hundreds of pounds of polenta - a fun & delicious time had by all!

The polenta is prepared in a copper cauldron heated by a wood fire, and stirred by hand with a wooden stick (this is serious work!), it is then cut into slices & seasoned with a special sauce called sufrangoli. If you look at the above photos (on the bottom left) you can see 2 guys carring a silver container between them - it's the sauce - they are headed to refill & share the 'sugo' or sauce with the other stands making polenta!

All in all there were 5 groups of polenta makers scattered about town, endlessly stirring ground corn (or polenta) for the masses to devour...and eat they did! Most locals, knowing the inside scoop - came prepared - not asking for a single serving but bringing casserole dishes & pots from home to be filled & weighed out by the kilo to feed their family!

Next year if you are in the area stop on by & eat your fill of polenta on the first Sunday of September!

Ashley Bartner is the Living in Italy Editor for Wandering Educators.

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