Grits
 Grits topped with butter. | |
| Place of origin | United States |
|---|---|
| Serving temperature | Hot or Cold |
| Main ingredients | Corn |
| Variations | Hominy grits Yellow speckled grits |
| Other information | Soul food |
Grits is a Native American corn-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground corn. Grits can also be made from wheat.
Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world such as polenta. It also has a resemblance to farina, a thinner porridge. Grits can be served hot or cold and as a base for a multitude of dishes from breakfast to dessert, depending on the additives. Additives can range from salt and butter, meats, vegetables, and sugar.
Hominy grits is grits made from nixtamalized corn, or hominy. It is sometimes called sofkee or sofkey from the Creek word.[1][2]
Origins
Traditionally the corn for grits is ground by a stone mill. The results are passed through screens, with the finer part being corn meal, and the coarser being grits. Many communities in the U.S. used a gristmill up until the mid-20th century, with families bringing their own corn to be ground, and the miller retaining a portion of the corn for his fee. In South Carolina, state law requires grits and corn meal to be enriched, similar to the requirements for flour, unless the grits are ground from corn where the miller keeps part of the product for his fee.[3]
Three-quarters of grits sold in the United States are sold in "the South" stretching from Texas to Virginia, also known as the "grits belt". The state of Georgia declared grits its official prepared food in 2002.[4] Similar bills have been introduced in South Carolina, with one declaring, "Whereas, throughout its history, the South has relished its grits, making them a symbol of its diet, its customs, its humour, and its hospitality, and whereas, every community in the State of South Carolina used to be the site of a grits mill and every local economy in the State used to be dependent on its product; and whereas, grits has been a part of the life of every South Carolinian of whatever race, background, gender, and income; and whereas, grits could very well play a vital role in the future of not only this State, but also the world", if as Charleston's The Post and Courier proclaimed in 1952, "An inexpensive, simple, and thoroughly digestible food, [grits] should be made popular throughout the world. Given enough of it, the inhabitants of planet Earth would have nothing to fight about. A man full of [grits] is a man of peace."[5]
Yellow grits include the whole kernel, while white grits use hulled kernels. Grits are prepared by simply boiling the ground kernels into a porridge; normally it is boiled until enough water evaporates to leave it semi-solid.
See also
External links
- Grist Mills, Grits Festivals, Recipes, and Photos - SCIway.net, South Carolina Information Highway
References
- ^
Hudson, Charles. "A Conquered People". The Southeastern Indians. The University of Tennessee Press. p. 498.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, entry "Sofkey", retrieved 18 August 2008.
- ^ South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 39 - Trade and Commerce, Chapter 29, retrieved on December 14 2007.
- ^ Georgia Secretary of State, State Prepared Food, retrieved on December 14 2007.
- ^ South Carolina General Assembly 113th Session, 1999-2000, Bill Number: 4806, retrieved on December 14 2007.