Grits! (was Re: British Foods)

[Tammy Rizzo]

Jo asked:

> To return the favour (grin) could you please tell me what on earth are
> 'grits' and why anyone would want to eat them????
> 
> Regards
> Jo

Now I (Tammy) reply:

Oooh, you've never had grits?  Oh my, you're missing out on one heck of a comfort food!  Okay, grits (or hominy grits) is a Southern dish, made from hominy: hard white corn soaked in mild lye (stop making that noise, it's for long-term storage!) and re-dried; grits is coarse-ground hominy meal, cooked in water for 20 or 30 minutes, until it's a very thick porridge.  No self-respecting Southerner uses instant grits, of course!  Grits is generally served with your basic Southern breakfast -- ham or bacon or sausage, eggs, grits, biscuits and gravy (made with cream and flour, cooked in the pan you fried the meat in) . . . you know, 'simple fare'.  ;-)  On its own, grits has a mild, though distinctive flavor -- not quite salty, certainly not sweet, but not bitter or biting in any way -- that is imparted by the lye.  Plain old corn meal doesn't taste the same *at all*!  Grits is usually served with butter, salt and pepper, and often with cream gravy as well, though it's sometimes served with honey or syrup instead.  Many people love to melt cheese over their grits (obviously not the sweetened-grits-eaters), and some I know like to stir an egg into the grits as they cook, or break an egg over the piping-hot grits on the plate, and let that cook the egg.  For myself, I much prefer to have my fried eggs *beside* my grits and mix the runny portion of the yolk into the grits, rather than deal with actual *raw* egg on my food.  Of course, tastes do vary, and I've met several people who "don't like grits", but almost all of them had either never actually *tried* grits, or had only had it once or twice as children.  My mother grew up with grits, but didn't share it with us kids until we were long grown, though she often served us hominy (the plain, lye-soaked corn before drying) and we loved it.  I've loved grits since I first tried it as an adult.

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Tammy Rizzo
ms-tamany at rcn.com