There are probably three foods that, with a single bite, can transport me back to my childhood à la “Ratatouille”: scrambled eggs, buttered macaroni and, perhaps my favorite, hot Cream of Wheat cereal.
The first two of those foods I instantly associate with my grandmother. I now know it was her generous use of butter that made the scrambled eggs and macaroni so memorable. After all, gobs of fresh butter will make pretty much anything taste good. Of course my memories, much like Anton Ego’s, are wrapped up not just in the food but in the experience of eating that food: sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table, having her listen to my seemingly endless monologue, feeling like prettiest, most interesting girl in the world. Thankfully I had a younger brother who would keep that developing ego in check.
But Cream of Wheat, that I associate with my mother. She’d whip up a big pot on fall and winter weekends, doling out generous bowls for my brother and I, topping them with swirls of maple syrup and some milk or a pat of butter. My brother and I would fiendishly stir the toppings into our cereal while my parents read the weekend paper, and we’d dive in eagerly with our spoons. To this day, I still think of those mornings with even a single taste of that velvety, maple-scented porridge.
I’ve often thought of Cream of Wheat (also called farina) as a poor man’s breakfast polenta, since it has the same silky texture as its corn-based cousin but cooks more quickly due to its finer consistency. So when I saw a drool-worthy recipe for breakfast polenta with maple and mascarpone, but noticed that it required almost 30 minutes of cooking (way more time than I have on a weekday morning), I decided to give the recipe a whirl using Cream of Wheat instead.
And boy am I glad I did. A small dollop of mascarpone gives the cereal a touch a richness without making it too rich, and as far as I’m concerned, maple and farina are a perfect pair.
When it comes to childhood comfort foods, you can never be sure if it’s the reassuring familiarity that makes the food taste so damn good, or if it’s the food itself. In this case, I think it’s a little of both. I was bound to love this recipe, given its provenance. But my English husband’s eyes opened wide like saucers when he tried a spoonful for the first time, which makes me think that even if you never ate Cream of Wheat as a child, you’ll love this too.
Cream of Wheat with Maple and Mascarpone
I’ve given instructions for a single serving, but essentially, just follow the instructions on the back of the box for 2 or more servings, using half milk and half water. This would probably also be great with some toasted pine nuts or pecans.
1/2 cup milk (whole, low-fat or skim will all work)
3/4 cup water
3 tablespoons Cream of Wheat (“2 1/2 Minute” — NOT instant) or farina
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 tablespoon mascarpone (to taste)
1/2-1 tablespoon maple syrup (to taste)
Pour the milk and water into a small saucepan and place over medium heat and add the salt. Bring the mixture almost to a boil (but don’t allow it to come to a full rolling boil).
While whisking constantly, add the Cream of Wheat to the milk mixture in a steady stream. Reduce the heat to low and let the mixture simmer for 2 1/2 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent lumps from forming. Remove from heat.
Pour the cooked cream of wheat into a bowl. Spoon a dollop of mascarpone on top of the cereal and drizzle with the maple syrup. Stir to blend, and enjoy!
Yield: 1 serving
There’s nothing like our childhood flavors…
It’s so good to taste good memories and remember the ones we love.
Your recipe must have been marvelous!
Oh that does look good. Now you make me feel like having cream of wheat 🙂
You know, I mostly remember cream of wheat as infant food “Cerelac” (gosh, we used to get a craving for that when we were kids! Already regressing to infancy at a young age– but all we could remember was that it tasted really good!). This is the most luxurious presentation for CoW I’ve ever seen! Delicious 🙂
there are no words to tell you how much i love cream of wheat. with maple syrup. but the marscarpone? brilliant…
quick polenta works pretty nicely too. i keep some around…
what’s not to love? smooth, warm, hearty, and that’s even without the lovely maple flavor. very nice–both the recipe and the memories. 🙂
I really enjoy hearing about the childhood memories of other people. Yours seems to have been a nice childhood 🙂 the is really coforting and an interesting dish . thanks
I’m really enjoying your breakfast posts. It’s a meal that I don’t put much time into, but I love it so much! Thanks.
My fellow on Orkut shared this link and I’m not dissapointed that I came here.
I live in New Zealand and you can’t get Cream of Wheat here. I have a box that I brought back with me last time I was home in New York for Christmas. I love the stuff, but have never tried maple syrup on it (I do brown sugar and butter). I will have to try it as it looks AMAZING! And I’m super glad my Kiwi Fiancé doesn’t like it – more for me!!!
A dual citizen, US/NZ: With teh turn of seasons, I found myself thinking of cream of wheat today. And here is your note! We live in Auckland, and our youngest, Kiwi-born, has never tasted the stuff. My dad loved it, too, that and chowder. Cheers!