Grits is a type of

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

made from coarsely ground dried

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

hominy Hominy is a food item produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization ( is the Nahuatl word for "hominy"). "Lye hominy" is a type of hominy made with lye. History The process ...

, the latter being maize that has been treated with an

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...

in a process called

nixtamalization Nixtamalization ( ) is a process for the preparation of maize (corn), or other cereal grain, grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooking, cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (but sometimes aqueous alkali metal carbonates), ...

, with the

pericarp Fruits are the mature ovary or ovaries of one or more flowers. They are found in three main anatomical categories: aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, and simple fruits. Fruitlike structures may develop directly from the seed itself rather th ...

(ovary wall) removed. Grits are cooked in warm salted water or milk. They are often served with flavorings as a breakfast dish. Grits can be savory or sweet, with savory seasonings being more common. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based

s from around the world, such as

polenta Polenta (, ) is an Italian cuisine, Italian dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. It may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried or Grilling, grilled. The variety of cereal used is ...

, , and

mămăligă Mămăligă (;) is a polenta-like dish made out of yellow maize flour, traditional in Romania, Moldova, south-west regions of Ukraine and among Poles in Ukraine (''mamałyga''), Hungary (''puliszka''), the Black Sea regions of Georgia (country), ...

. The dish originated in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of the dinner entrée

shrimp and grits Shrimp and grits is a Lowcountry cuisine, traditional dish in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia in the United States. It is a traditional breakfast dish, though many consider it mo ...

, served primarily in the Southern United States. The word "grits" is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

word , meaning "coarse meal". In the

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as "hominy" until the 1980s.

Origin

The dish originated with the Native American

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

tribe using maize. American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple. At that time, maize or hominy for grits was ground on a stone

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

. The ground material was passed through screens, the finer sifted material used as grit meal, and the coarser as grits. Three-quarters of the grits sold in the U.S. are bought in the South, in an area stretching from Lower Texas to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, that is sometimes called the "grits belt". The state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

declared grits to be its official prepared food in 2002. A similar bill was introduced in South Carolina to name it the official state food, but it did not advance. Nevertheless, South Carolina still has an entire chapter of legislation dealing exclusively with corn meal and grits. State law in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

requires grits and rice meal to be enriched, similar to the requirement for flour. Grits may be either yellow or white, depending on the color of the maize used. The most common version in supermarkets is "quick" grits, which are made from non-hominy maize and have the germ and hull removed. Whole kernel grits are sometimes called "speckled".

Preparation

Grits are prepared by mixing water or milk and the dry grits and stirring them over heat, if one uses

cornmeal Maize meal is a meal (coarse flour) ground from dried maize. It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', Third Editi ...

, the food is called

mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on Multi-user dungeon, MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social m ...

. Whole-grain grits require much longer to become soft than "quick grits".

Dishes

Grits are eaten with a wide variety of foods, such as eggs and bacon, fried

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

croquette A croquette (; ) is a deep-fried roll originating in French cuisine, consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is then breaded. It is served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide. The binder is typically a thick b� ...

s, or

country ham A country is a distinct part of the Earth, world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, List of states with limited r ...

Shrimp and grits Shrimp and grits is a Lowcountry cuisine, traditional dish in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia in the United States. It is a traditional breakfast dish, though many consider it mo ...

is a traditional dish in the coastal communities in the

South Carolina Lowcountry The Lowcountry (sometimes Low Country or just low country) is a geographic and cultural region along South Carolina's coast, including the Sea Islands. The region includes significant salt marshes and other coastal waterways, making it an impor ...

and Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain. Solidified cooked grits can be sliced and fried in

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of edible plants. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed ...

, butter, or bacon grease to make fried grits, or they can first be breaded in beaten egg and

bread crumbs Breadcrumbs are a culinary ingredient consisting of flour or crumbled bread of varying dryness, sometimes with seasonings added. They are used for a variety of purposes, including breading or crumbing foods before frying (such as breaded cut ...

References

{{Corn Native American cuisine Porridges Cuisine of the Southern United States Native American cuisine of the Southeastern Woodlands Bahamian cuisine Soul food Staple foods Maize dishes Symbols of Georgia (U.S. state) Muscogee culture Cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies

Origin

Preparation

Dishes

See also

References