Grits are a type of
porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating 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, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
made from boiled
cornmeal
Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...
. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from
hominy
Hominy (Spanish: maíz molido; literally meaning "milled corn") is a food 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 ...
– corn that has been treated with an
alkali
In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic 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 ...
in a process called
nixtamalization, with the
pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits 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
porridge
Porridge is a food made by heating 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, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...
s from around the world, such as
polenta
Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled.
...
and
mieliepap. 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, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
but is now available nationwide. Grits are often part of a dinner entrée
shrimp and grits
Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish in the Lowcountry of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia in the United States. It is a traditional breakfast dish, though many consider it more of a lunch or supper dish. Elsewhere, grits are accompanied by f ...
, served primarily in the South.
The word "grits" is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
word , meaning "coarse meal." In the
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
, area, cooked hominy grits were primarily referred to as "hominy" until the 1980s.
Origin
The dish originated with the Native American
Muscogee tribe using a corn similar to hominy.
American colonists learned to make the dish from the Native Americans, and it quickly became an American staple.
At that time, the hominy for grits was ground on a stone
mill. The ground hominy 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., that is sometimes called the "grits belt." The state of
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
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
)''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
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 corn used. The most common version in supermarkets is "quick" grits, which have the germ and hull removed. Whole kernel grits are sometimes called "speckled".
Preparation
Grits are prepared by mixing water or milk and cornmeal and stirring them over heat. Whole grain grits require much longer to become soft than "quick grits."
Some people serve grits with sugar, while others object to sweetened grits. They are often served with butter. They are served with grated cheese, sausage, bacon, salt, pepper, or red-eye gravy.
Dishes
Grits are eaten with a wide variety of foods, such as eggs and bacon, fried catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
, shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...
, salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Onco ...
croquette
A croquette is a deep-fried roll consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is breaded and deep-fried; it is served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide.
The binder is typically a thick béchamel or brown sau ...
s, or country ham.
Shrimp and grits
Shrimp and grits is a traditional dish in the Lowcountry of the coastal Carolinas and Georgia in the United States. It is a traditional breakfast dish, though many consider it more of a lunch or supper dish. Elsewhere, grits are accompanied by f ...
is a traditional dish in the coastal communities in the South Carolina Lowcountry and Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain.
Solidified cooked grits can be sliced and fried in vegetable oil, butter, or bacon grease, or they can first be breaded in beaten egg and bread crumbs.
See also
* Creamed corn
* Cuisine of the Southern United States
* Cuisine of the United States
* Farina (food)
* Groats
Groats (or in some cases, "berries") are the hulled kernels of various cereal grains, such as oat, wheat, rye, and barley. Groats are whole grains that include the cereal germ and fiber-rich bran portion of the grain, as well as the endosp ...
* Hasty pudding
* List of porridges
* Mush (cornmeal)
Mush is a type of cornmeal pudding (or porridge) which is usually boiled in water or milk. It is often allowed to set, or gel into a semisolid, then cut into flat squares or rectangles, and pan fried. Usage is especially common in the easte ...
* Polenta
Polenta (, ) is a dish of boiled cornmeal that was historically made from other grains. The dish comes from Italy. It may be served as a hot porridge, or it may be allowed to cool and solidify into a loaf that can be baked, fried, or grilled.
...
* Three Sisters (agriculture)
The Three Sisters are the three main agricultural crops of various Indigenous peoples of North America: squash, maize ("corn"), and climbing beans (typically tepary beans or common beans).
In a technique known as companion planting, the maize ...
References
{{Use mdy dates, date=April 2012
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