name | Grits |
---|---|
alternate name | Sofkee or Sofkey |
country | United States South |
creator | Native Americans |
course | mainly a breakfast side-dish |
served | warm to hot |
main ingredient | ground corn |
variations | Hominy grits Yellow speckled grits |
other | Soul food }} |
Grits are a food of Native American origin common in the Southern United States and mainly eaten at breakfast. They consist of coarsely ground corn, or sometimes hominy, in which case they are referred to as hominy grits. They are also sometimes called sofkee or sofkey from the Muskogee (Creek) language word. Grits are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world, such as polenta, or the thinner farina.
Grits are usually prepared by adding one part grits to two-to-three parts boiling water, sometimes seasoned with salt or sugar. They are usually cooked for 15 – 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the grits become a porridge-like consistency. As grits expand when they are cooked, they need to be stirred periodically to prevent sticking and forming lumps. They may be served with grated cheese, butter, sausage or country ham red-eye gravy. Grits have also been known to be served with fish such as fried catfish or salmon croquettes.
Grits can also be fried in a pan or molded to create a firm block; the resulting block can be cut with a knife or wire, and the slices fried in a fat such as vegetable oil, butter, or bacon grease.
The word "grits" derives from the Old English word "grytt," meaning coarse meal. This word originally referred to wheat and other porridges now know as groats in parts of the U.K., maize being unknown in Europe in the Middle Ages. The word "grits" is one of the few rare words that may properly be used as either singular or plural in writing or speech and can be used with a singular or plural verb.
Three-quarters of grits sold in the U.S. 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. 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 humor, 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."
Yellow grits include the whole kernel, while white grits use hulled kernels. Grits are prepared by simply boiling the ground kernels into a porridge until enough water vaporizes to leave it semi-solid.
In the 2008 documentary Britney: For the Record, the father of pop star Britney Spears is seen making Spears some cheese grits as she prepares for her appearance at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.
In the 1960s sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies, grits were frequently offered up as fare, usually in combination with some other southern fare, e.g., "hog jowls", which generally did not appeal to the WASP tastes of the neighbours.
The 1976 American sitcom Alice coined the popular catch phrase "Kiss my grits!", used as a snappy comeback by waitress, Flo, whenever she was verbally harassed -- usually by the Diner's owner, Mel.
1977 Hank Williams, Jr., song "new south" quoted saying " I dont want no little ol danish rolls I must have ham and grits"
One of the more memorable scenes in the film My Cousin Vinny involves Vincent Gambini (Joe Pesci) questioning prosecution witness Sam Tipton (Maury Chaykin) on the stand. Tipton testifies that as he had begun to prepare breakfast (grits), he saw the defendants walk into a nearby convenience store, and as he was sitting down to eat, he saw them walk back out. He testifies that his breakfast took him five minutes to prepare, and thus there was not enough time for the defendants to have driven away and for two other men in a similar car to arrive at the store. Gambini first asks "How do you like your grits - regular, creamy, or al dente?". After getting a response of "regular, I guess", Gambini then asks whether Tipton cooks instant grits or regular grits, to which Tipton replies that "no self-respecting Southerner uses instant grits". Gambini then furiously but humorously traps Tipton in a contradiction by pointing out that the recipe for regular grits requires 20 minutes of preparation time, not five minutes.
In the 2002 novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, the narrator and protagonist Lily describes a punishment her abusive father routinely inflicted on her: kneeling on grits.
On November 11, 1990, Kid Rock released his debut album titled Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast.
RZA released his third solo studio album in 2009 featuring his hit song "Grits" which talked about youth from poor families growing up in the ghetto.
The Confederate Railroad song "Elvis and Andy" mentions a southern man who brings his new northern girlfriend to see his mother and among other things the song mentions, "mama threw a fit 'cuz she wouldn't eat her grits".
In Left 4 Dead 2, Ellis will mention about making "zombie grits" upon picking up the Frying Pan.
In 1969, blues & soul singer/guitarist Little Milton (James Milton Campbell, Jr.) had a hit with "Grits Ain't Groceries", in which he emphatically states "If I don't love you baby, Grits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultry and Mona Lisa was a man!". The song was written by Titus Turner and was released by Stax Records. It also featured in the 1991 movie "The Commitments".
Category:Native American cuisine Category:Porridges Category:Cuisine of the Southern United States Category:Soul food Category:Breakfast foods Category:Staple foods Category:Maize dishes Category:Symbols of Georgia (U.S. state)
de:Grits zh:葛子This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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