Macafam

This is a good example of a plain recipe that would have been eaten by the poorer population of the Veneto countryside rather than by the nobility of the grand households of Venice. It uses the basic starch maize meal, but instead of boiling it in water to make polenta, the flour is mixed with stock to make a smooth paste before it is combined with other ingredients and baked into a savoury cake. Note the use of the bacon for greasing, which reflects the fact that no butter or oil would hav