[6] Polenta covered any hulled and crushed grain, especially barley-meal, and is derived from the Latin pollen for 'fine flour', which shares a root with pulvis, meaning 'dust'.

[7] As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier forms of grain mush (known as puls or pulmentum in Latin) that were commonly eaten since Roman times.

Before the introduction of corn (maize) from America in the 16th century,[8] it was made from starchy ingredients such as farro, chestnut flour, millet, spelt, and chickpeas.

[9] Polenta was brought to the south of Brazil by Italian immigrants in the late 19th century and has become an important part of Italian-Brazilian culture and identity in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná.

[citation needed] In March 2010, it presented a stovetop, near-stir-less method that uses a pinch of baking soda (an alkali), which replicates the traditional effect.