Italian food: five parcels cold in the middle (7)
I believe the answer is:
polenta
'italian food' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for polenta that I've seen before include "Italian dish of maize flour" , "Cooked meal" , "Italian porridge usually of maize" , "thick mush" , "Italian food" .)