Explain Grits to this Northern Girl!

[DISNEY1975]

Also, OP, if you are eating at Animal Kingdom and some other places at WDW you may see a dish called "Mealie Pap" or just Pap, which is very similar grits. Grits are also similar to Polenta, if you have seen that in Italian restaurants.

Being Italian, Im very familiar with Polenta! Not a huge fan.

I am eating at Tusker House one morning. Would I find it there?

 

[DisBuckMan]

I view grits like I view coffee. If you have to put so much stuff in them that you cannot even taste the grits anymore...you really don't like grits.

I look at all these flavored "coffees" the same way. If that's your idea of coffee, you really don't like coffee.

 

[BrianL]

Being Italian, Im very familiar with Polenta! Not a huge fan.

I am eating at Tusker House one morning. Would I find it there?

Tusker house should have "Mealie Pap" on the menu (that's the first place I ever saw that word). I looked it up and apparently they are different from grits in that they are made from white corn meal instead of the usual yellow corn meal found in the US.

 

[Day-Day]

Grits are not simply boiled cornmeal. Both grits and cornmeal are ground corn but grits are not ground as finely as cornmeal so they are more course.

I like grits with butter and salt as well as mixed with my fried eggs. Some folks mix about anything it with them such as fresh tomatoes, fish, shrimp, etc.

 

[alex9179]

I make grits all the time, especially if having shrimp in a cream sauce. It's a hot cereal that can have a nubby texture (the grit) or very creamy when cooked longer. White corn grits will take on a cheesy flavor if cooked in milk, low and slow. Yellow corn grits are more corn-forward in flavor. You can cook them in water, as well, but you won't have the same creamy consistency.
I linked the best recipe I've found, though I blow off using a double boiler since I have an induction cooktop that can hold a very low temperature. Works with quick grits as well as stone ground. Scroll a bit to Fool-proof grits
https://charlestonlivingmag.com/southern-dishes-with-a-twist

 

[TheWitherington's]

Doesn't sound like you really like grits all that much. You do like cheese, however.

Grits are ok....cheese grits are better.

 

[DLgal]

Grits are not simply boiled cornmeal. Both grits and cornmeal are ground corn but grits are not ground as finely as cornmeal so they are more course.

Thank you. That description of being "boiled cornmeal" was annoying me. If you actually buy "cornmeal" and try to boil it, you will NOT get grits. It will be more like playdoh.

 

[OKW Lover]

Another data point for what its worth (probably nothing). I'm a "northern guy" (MA) married to a real southern girl (LA) and I still don't understand grits. Just not at all something I care for. But she loves them when she can find them properly cooked here in central FL.

 

[dachsie]

Grits is boiled cornmeal.

Sure, things like cheese, onions, bacon, etc., can be added to grits. But at its most basic, "grits" is simply boiled cornmeal.

I think I'm unclear about what your confusion about grits is.

Uh no. Grits is not boiled cornmeal, that is polenta.

When you look at a kernel of corn, there is a little white piece in it - that is where the grits come from. Its not ground corn, its that little white pit thing. Having said that - grits are really good - Shrimp and grits is awesome! As is cheese grits.

ETA - the white piece is called the germ

 

[MickyLynn]

So you put a layer of grits, then over easy eggs, then crumbled bacon, then cheese, and more grits on top, then hot sauce. That's how you get all the tastes, separate or mixed, but with to-go bowl convenience. YWIA.

Its like, breakfast lasagna.

 

[Lilsia]

This reminds me of the scene in My Cousin Vinny:

I love this movie. We quote it all the time in our day to day life. It was the first thing that I thought of when I read the post. LOL

 

[rg35]

Uh no. Grits is not boiled cornmeal, that is polenta.

When you look at a kernel of corn, there is a little white piece in it - that is where the grits come from. Its not ground corn, its that little white pit thing. Having said that - grits are really good - Shrimp and grits is awesome! As is cheese grits.

ETA - the white piece is called the germ

Cornmeal simply means a coarse flour (a meal) made from ground corn. Grits are made from a coarse-ground cornmeal. There is nothing specific whatsoever about grits with regard to what part of the corn the meal is made from. Grits that are white are made from white cornmeal from white corn. Yellow grits are made from yellow corn.

Polenta is also made from medium to coarse ground cornmeal.

These are all dishes made from "cornmeal." I have read plenty about the subject and cook a lot.

 

[alex9179]

Grits are often made from dried dent corn, a starchy, less sweet variety. Cracked corn, grits, and corn meal are all produced from the milling and separated using different sized screens. Polenta is from dried flint corn that has a hard starch in the middle, with the result being a grainier final product.

 

[DISNEY1975]

Another data point for what its worth (probably nothing). I'm a "northern guy" (MA) married to a real southern girl (LA) and I still don't understand grits. Just not at all something I care for. But she loves them when she can find them properly cooked here in central FL.

Its worth a lot, especially coming from another member of Red Sox Nation

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I'd say for $5 you should try grits and see what you think. Even though the purists on this thread seem to disagree, I think the comparison to polenta is the best description, although the preparation is going to be different. In fact, several food/recipe websites say you can interchange them if needed.

 

[jscunningham699]

Simple enough.....DON'T EAT THEM! They're gross.

 

[DISNEY1975]

I'd say for $5 you should try grits and see what you think.

I surely will!

 

[J-Dog]

For my fellow northerners:
Imagine cream of wheat made with corn meal instead of wheat meal. Add butter or cheese to give it some flavor. Like cream of wheat, it shouldn't be runny, or so hard that it would hold its shape when cut with a knife.

When I first clicked on this thread, I thought "I wonder if grits are similar to Malt-O-Meal or Cream of Wheat", so thanks for the analogy!

Having grown-up in the Pacific Northwest, I don't think that I have ever seen grits in a supermarket, on a menu, or in anyone's home. Even when I was in Texas (panhandle) for a year, I was never served grits.

 

[alex9179]

Having grown-up in the Pacific Northwest, I don't think that I have ever seen grits in a supermarket, on a menu, or in anyone's home. Even when I was in Texas (panhandle) for a year, I was never served grits.

My cousin first had shrimp & grits in Seattle, when they lived there. That's within the last few years. It's not really a southwest thing, but a southeast one. I ate it for breakfast when I was little, made by my Kansan grandparents. I always hated oatmeal but grits were my jam! Savory additions, only. No idea if it was something they liked when they were growing up.
I didn't start playing with recipes until I moved to Gulf Coast Tx, about 13 years ago. I cooked out of Vivian Howard's book in July '17 and knew that her method was THE ONE.
In June, I made a shrimp & grits brunch when visiting Kansas and that cousin mentioned above. 6-10 people grew to 17, several of whom had never had them. I think two of the pickiest eaters were the only one who weren't ruined by converted to the creamy style Howard has in her book. Of course, I bought some quality stone-ground, white corn grits. For my kids, I'm okay making a batch with the quick-cooking variety. They're both creamy and taste cheesy.

 

[TCRAIG]

I’m from New England but move to SC decades ago...I love cheese popcorn for breakfast. My co-workers would remark - ‘must be a yankee thing’ but I’d say No - it was southern...they’d reply ‘I’ve lived in the south all my life and I’ve never heard of cheese popcorn for breakfast’...to which I would reply - ‘They’re just Grits with hot air’.