Polenta is one of the oldest dishes in history and it's considered one of the first cooked dishes. Used by the ancient Sumerians and in Mesopotamia, polenta was a dish made with millet and rye. The classic version, however, is made by cooking coarse grain flour in salted boiling water. Initially, a mixture of coarse spelt cooked in salted water was used and considered peasant food. Today, it's become an excellent cooking product to pair with food like mushrooms, tasty meat dishes or aged cheese.