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DavidNH
05-11-2005, 20:47
Hello folks!


Seems I keep hearing about these grits..how it has been named Georgia's state food..and always seems to be available in places where southerner's frequent.

I have never even seen Grits before..much less tried em! My only time in the south was in transit to Florida. Florida of course is not really what one would call a "southern" state. More of a winter playground for us northerners and a place for folks from anywhere to retire (quick aside...no way I will ever live there.. way tooooooo flat and way too hot, and the cities sprawl out too much)!

Up here in the New England states..you rarely see Grits on a menu...unless it is at a truck stop!



hmmm...I wonder if in the deep south one can get pancakes and pure maple syrup and down home stand bys like Clam chowder (that would have to be the real kind...not that cheap tomatoish chowder they serve up in Manhatten!!!!) and ice cream?? I am sure ice cream is everywhere but it is sort of a regional specialty!!!


David

TDale
05-11-2005, 21:05
One thing about the south, if it's good eatin' we take it and make it our own. Pancakes, maple syrup, New England clam chowder, we eat it all.

Grits are ground corn. You have cream of wheat, we have cream of corn.

But, grits aren't just ground corn. You can get them plain, buttered, egged, cheesed, baconed, hammed, or any combination you can think of. We serve 'em with fish and shrimp sometimes. And we're starting to catch on to the italian version: polenta.

Dances with Mice
05-11-2005, 21:11
Seems I keep hearing about these grits..how it has been named Georgia's state food..and always seems to be available in places where southerner's frequent.

I have never even seen Grits before..much less tried em! My only time in the south was in transit to Florida. Florida of course is not really what one would call a "southern" state. More of a winter playground for us northerners and a place for folks from anywhere to retire (quick aside...no way I will ever live there.. way tooooooo flat and way too hot, and the cities sprawl out too much)!

Up here in the New England states..you rarely see Grits on a menu...unless it is at a truck stop! ....

First: And, exactly, is wrong with truck stops?!

Second: Think polenta. They're real close cousins, grits and polenta, same family, more alike than not. But grits are more closely related to tortillas than polenta. Your mission, Mr. Phelps, is to learn why grits are superior.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20021007.html
http://www.grits.com/

Third: Two words: "Waffle House". If that doesn't mean anything to you, then nevermind. Juss eatchyah chowdah ahn shaddup.

Dances with Mice
05-11-2005, 21:16
Seems I keep hearing about these grits..how it has been named Georgia's state food..and always seems to be available in places where southerner's frequent.

I have never even seen Grits before..much less tried em! My only time in the south was in transit to Florida. Florida of course is not really what one would call a "southern" state. More of a winter playground for us northerners and a place for folks from anywhere to retire (quick aside...no way I will ever live there.. way tooooooo flat and way too hot, and the cities sprawl out too much)!

Up here in the New England states..you rarely see Grits on a menu...unless it is at a truck stop! ....

First: And what, exactly, is wrong with truck stops?!

Second: Think polenta. They're real close cousins, grits and polenta, same family, more alike than not. But grits are more closely related to tortillas than polenta. Your mission, Mr. Phelps, is to learn why grits are superior.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20021007.html
http://www.grits.com/

Third: Two words: "Waffle House". If that doesn't mean anything to you, then nevermind. Juss eatchyah chowdah ahn shaddup.

Dances with Mice
05-11-2005, 21:17
Two replies at once! Don't know how that happened.

squirrel bait
05-11-2005, 21:47
think potatoes, or a side dish, not macaroni and cheese, a simple ground grain that takes well to butter, gravy, and/or salt/pepper. Good choice.

smokymtnsteve
05-11-2005, 22:22
Grits and fish...

make grits, add olive oil, salt, red pepper and tuna fish maybe some dried onion or garlic.

Krewzer
05-11-2005, 22:22
...ah yes, there's nothing more pleasant than the smell of a grits tree in full blossum on a warm Alabama night.

Y'all come.

neo
05-11-2005, 23:02
grits are made from homoney,basically corn soaked in lye,then dried and ground
just stop at any waffle house in the southeast:cool: neo

gr8fulyankee
05-11-2005, 23:33
Grits are ...
Well think of Cream of wheat after you scrap it out of a baby's diaper.

Goon
05-12-2005, 00:13
If you want to get REALLY southern eat fried grits, along with my mama's homemade buttermilk biscuits. I'm getting hungry...

Pencil Pusher
05-12-2005, 01:11
fried okra

plodder
05-12-2005, 02:05
fried okra

Can't wait to see where this goes.

Let's also discuss the merits of seasoning meat.

I like Waffle House, they wash out my coffee mug.

Pencil Pusher
05-12-2005, 02:11
Sorry for the too short post. Was just mentioning fried okra as folks started getting reminiscent of southern foods. Sh-it on a shingle... ;)

The Hog
05-12-2005, 06:34
I live in Vermont and I love grits (you CAN find 'em in the supermarket here). I eat grits at home and on the trail. It's a nice break from oatmeal and grits are more versatile since they can be eaten sweet or spicy - I like to doctor 'em up, because they're pretty bland alone. I like 'em with bananas and I like 'em with Tabasco and black pepper and butter. There's even a restaurant up here (the River Run in Plainfield) that serves southern style food, including grits and catfish. I sometimes mix grits with other grains to make a mulitgrain hot cereal. Variety is key on the trail, and grits are always part of my breakfast rotation.

Teatime
05-12-2005, 06:37
You need to see the movie "My Cousin Vinnie" if you have questions about grits.

MOWGLI
05-12-2005, 07:02
I like Waffle House, they wash out my coffee mug.

I wnt to Krispy Kreme after hiking a 45-mile section of the Florida Trail - and they REFUSED to put coffee in my travel mug. Both Mark Stanfill (of the Cumberland Trail Conference) emerged with our travel mugs in one hand, and a styrofoam cup in the other. I was pissed. Oh well..

As for grits, this damn Yankee has yet to discover their merit. Perhaps next year.

Peaks
05-12-2005, 07:44
If you want to find out what grits are really all about, then stay at Woods Hole Hostel just south of Pearisburg and enjoy the authentic southern breakfast with Tillie. (I assume she is still carrying on)

RockyTrail
05-12-2005, 09:21
I think our esteemed northern brothers tend to get worked up over "grits" simply because of one thing- the name. I have no idea how it got that name. Maybe it was coined by the Confederacy to keep Gen'l Sherman from burning down the big Grits storehouse in Atlanta. He probably said, "Grits?....Uhh...Let's move on down to Savannah, boys."

Yes, it sounds funny and maybe even unappetizing to the uninitiated, but you gotta try it first. To southerners, it's simply "grits", not "GRITS!!! OH MY GOSH!" :) ha ha

Most people add something to it like butter or gravy in the same way they add something to flavor a plain piece of bread. There's nothing better on a cold morning before sunrise than bacon, eggs, grits & coffee at Waffle House! hee hee - Ya gotta try it!

I have to agree though, things do seem to taste bettter in the region they originate. I love it all!! For example I've never had better Mexican food than in the Southwest, never had better clam chowder than in the NE, and barbeque-well you just can't beat North Carolina barbeque!:)

TOW
05-12-2005, 09:32
As tthe first TDale said, grits is ground up corn and yes we here in the southern and central part of the states are fond of the Italian version as well. Here is a saying I use in the kitchen all the time, "Grits? If they're gritty going in, they'll be gritty coming out! That's why they calls them grits!"
While I lived up in West Dover, Vt I use to take Vermont Maple Syrup, good southern grits, dried figs from North Carolina, and home made butter, mix it all together and chow down.
You can come up with just about any concoction with grits......

Ender
05-12-2005, 11:02
I'm a New Englander (but with Texas blood), and all I can say about grits is...

Yummy.

Bolo
05-12-2005, 11:29
Ever hear of the yankee who came down South, stopped at a roadside diner and ordered

eggs over easy
4 slices of bacon
6 pancakes
and one grit.

Well, southerners don't really know what "coffee light, coffee dark, is"
either. :datz

Bolo

Clark Fork
05-12-2005, 11:30
There are probably better stories but the derivation of "grits" is straightforward. In Canada, "Grits" are members of the Liberal Party and the derivation is the fine sand used in mortar also called grits.

The word grits is related to groats and to grit. Grits was grytt (singular) or grytta (plural) in Old English, and it came from the Germanic root *greut-, which Calvert Watkins (of the American Heritage Dictionary) takes back to the Indo-European root *ghreu- "to rub, grind". The Germanic root is the source of groats and grit, as well. Grit was originally "sand, gravel" but is now "minute particles of sand as produced by attrition or disintegration". Groats, of course, refers to hulled or hulled and crushed grain, usually oats, but it can apply to wheat, barley, and even corn (again, maize).


Regards,

Clark Fork in Western Montana

Rain Man
05-12-2005, 11:46
I got grits every morning, growing up, and was happy to have the versatile delicacy.

But once upon a time, during my college days, I found myself traveling in an unnamed foreign Northern jurisdiction, sitting in a restaurant or truck stop for breakfast. Looking out the window, I could see corn fields as far as I could see.

The waitress turned me down flat on grits, but offered something called "hash brown potatoes" instead (whatever those are, you see).

I looked back out and saw nary a single potato field. Indeed, none on the entire trip.

Those people up North just didn't seem to be thinking with their heads!!! LOL
:dance
I admit, if you smothered them in ketchup, those mashed breakfast french fries were at least edible.
:)
Rain:sunMan

.

TDale
05-12-2005, 13:43
"...nary a single potato field."

LMAO!

RockyTrail
05-12-2005, 14:05
Not trying to stray off the subject here, but you shoulda seen the reaction I got when I tried to order a slaw dog at a Dairy Queen in Illinois! ha ha
No such thing, but then every DQ in the south has them (a hot dog served with cole slaw on top).
It's good eatin'!

This is a great thread, hikers are always hungry!:sun

bogey
05-12-2005, 18:39
You need to see the movie "My Cousin Vinnie" if you have questions about grits.
I thought I'd split a gut when he asked, "what exactly is a 'grit' anyway?"

Mags
05-12-2005, 18:48
As New England transplant (with relatives who look and sound like Joe Pesci from "My Cousin Vinnie" no less) living in Colorado, all I have to say about grits is: BLEEECH :)

Sorrry..I just could not get into them. I don't care for cream of wheat, don't care for cream of corn.

Give me goold old fashion New England home fries: potatoes fried in oil with onions and seaonings. Yum. Yum. Alas, here in Colorado we have the bland "hash browns" instead of the yummy home fries. Don't even get me started on what passes for Italian food up here. ;)

Honestly. I really, really, really tried to like grits. I dated a person from the deep south for almost two years! I've been to Waffle House many, many times! I just could not enjoy grits.
But my heart and soul cries out for greasy potatoes wth my eggs...not grits. :)

plodder
05-12-2005, 19:05
Well bless my heart! I thought everyone liked cream corn. Goes down easy!

juztyn
05-12-2005, 22:51
I live in Warwick, GA GRITS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. hell ya grits are great they are like the building blocks of our society. i find it halarious when others hiking have no idea what im eating... its great. other than the grits thing warwick sucks though...

Ridge
05-13-2005, 00:45
The Angels brought grits to the south. Okra, was sent by the grace of God.

bobgessner57
05-14-2005, 23:03
Grits fixed right are food for the soul. Too much water and cooled they will glue about anything together. Too little water and cooled they turn to rubber and could patch a blown out sole or make emergency orthotics. Grits, the ultimate hiker product.

oldfivetango
05-15-2005, 09:46
Grits-The staff of Southern Culture.But they have to be properly cooked-long and slow until they do indeed lose their "grittiness".Add butter or cheese,salt and pepper to taste.You can determine the quality of a restaurant or any cook very quickly by the consistency of their grits.
Most people on the trail will experience something called "instant grits"-yuk.
You can eat it but it just aint the same-sort of like instant coffee compared to the real deal- a reasonable facsimile is all you are gonna git.
Add a side of salt cured smoked "country ham" and any sort of eggs with real
coffee to the grits and you got a meal fit for a king IMHO.
Cheers,
Oldfivetango

Nearly Normal
05-15-2005, 16:45
It's getting harder to find real grits. Everyone has instant but 20 minute grits sho do eat more better.
pete

plodder
05-15-2005, 19:39
Instant only here. They can put that next to the instant oatmeal. Any one been to the grit festival in SC? They have contest to see who can get the most grits to stick to them. Big like kiddie pool to roll around in. Count on some girl with hair to her knees to win. 5th level of drinking occurs...

Krewzer
05-16-2005, 00:34
...' had a cousin over in Mississippi who started eating sugar on his grits one time. Mama wouldn't let us kids speak of it in public at all.

Oh Lord, what a time that was!!! There was some talk about madness on my Aunt's side of the family and about how he'd got caught stealing watermelons before he was 11 and everything else.

Luckily, my Uncle got him baptized. It was a good one too, us kids counted all the way to fifteen before the preacher let him up. Fifteen was usually reserved the worst sinners.

Well it took the good lord a while, but about the time old cuz's voice started to change he finally stopped all that foolishness.

Shortly there after the gossip died down and most of the older women quit watching him so close.

And as far as I know neither he, his children nor any of his grandchildren have been caught stealing watermelons since.

Bolo
05-16-2005, 10:56
Any one been to the grit festival in SC? They have contest to see who can get the most grits to stick to them. Big like kiddie pool to roll around in. Count on some girl with hair to her knees to win. 5th level of drinking occurs...Hey, Plodder,
Come on down to St. George, SC, home of the World Grits Festival! You n me can enter the Rollin' in the Grits Contest!

Somebody mentioned bananas in grits?? :banana Personally, I like cheese grits or grits in a big puddle of country ham gravy.

Grits etiquette (off the trail): Grits are eaten with a fork, not a spoon as you may eat cream of wheat, etc., however forks do not work for those only desiring to eat one grit.

Yeah, real women eat grits.

Bolo

Krewzer
05-17-2005, 08:56
G.R.I.T.S.
Girls Raised In The South.

Nearly Normal
05-17-2005, 09:31
G.R.I.T.S.
Finest kind!
pete

DavidNH
05-17-2005, 20:23
Oh For real breakfast! Cream of wheat? who would ever eat such a thing?? the breakfast for those without teath!

Just give us pancakes, hash, good ol home fries fried in oil...perhaps with some cheese and bacon fat to boot! greesty potatoes. eggs... My kinda breakfasts!!




QUOTE=Mags]As New England transplant (with relatives who look and sound like Joe Pesci from "My Cousin Vinnie" no less) living in Colorado, all I have to say about grits is: BLEEECH :)

Sorrry..I just could not get into them. I don't care for cream of wheat, don't care for cream of corn.

Give me goold old fashion New England home fries: potatoes fried in oil with onions and seaonings. Yum. Yum. Alas, here in Colorado we have the bland "hash browns" instead of the yummy home fries. Don't even get me started on what passes for Italian food up here. ;)

Honestly. I really, really, really tried to like grits. I dated a person from the deep south for almost two years! I've been to Waffle House many, many times! I just could not enjoy grits.
But my heart and soul cries out for greasy potatoes wth my eggs...not grits. :)[/QUOTE]

smokymtnsteve
05-17-2005, 21:46
grits = GA Ice Cream

peter_pan
05-18-2005, 07:27
Grits are a staple of the American Indians, especially those tribes in the south and east. Corn was their staple for 700+ years before the arrival of Europeans. Boiled homoney exploded from the kernnels shell then mashed...Yummy plain, no salt before the Europeans, add berries even yummier.....

For a real treat....take a river clay coiled rope pot cut up a whole pumpkin, fresh corn kernnels, and slow simmer it all day until you have a thick sauce /soup of sweet pumpkin corn.....ummmm.

Pan

minnesotasmith
05-18-2005, 07:37
Grits are incompletely-ground Cream of Wheat (leaving aside the corn vs. wheat issue). Like Malt-O-Meal, the parts that are good for you, the bran and germ, have been removed. I recommend not eating any of the three.

TDale
05-18-2005, 09:00
And another yankee tries to tell us how to do things...:D

http://www.ansonmills.com/products.html
Good source for whole grain grits and corn products. I wonder if you could cook and dehyrdrate these for camping use?

Krewzer
05-18-2005, 13:11
Grits are incompletely-ground Cream of Wheat (leaving aside the corn vs. wheat issue). Like Malt-O-Meal, the parts that are good for you, the bran and germ, have been removed. I recommend not eating any of the three.

........say what? Ain't no Malt in grits! Grits come complete, Malt goes in the home brew, a Bran goes on a cow, Germs give you a cold, and Cream of Wheat is the double first cousin to not much.

Y'all come

SGT Rock
05-18-2005, 18:39
Grits are rough ground corn and taste good. They stick to your ribs in the morning and taste best when mixed with tobasco and butter.

Frosty
05-18-2005, 18:51
It's getting harder to find real grits. Everyone has instant but 20 minute grits sho do eat more better.
peteThis gets back to MY COUSIN VINNY. "So, were these magic grits?"

minnesotasmith
05-18-2005, 18:52
Grits normally have the germ and bran removed, making them the corn nutritional equivalent of white wheat flour. If you know of a reasonably-priced supplier of grits that still have the nutritive portions (germ/bran) still present, please tell us the brand and seller.

BTW, TDale, I have spent more of my life in the South than everywhere else put together. My mother is 5th-generation Southern. I have multiple known ancestors that fought for the Confederacy, with NONE that I know of who fought in blue. I have moved around enough that I don't consider myself from any particular part of the country, just American. I consider Southern and (non-Left Coastal) Western mores (individualism, gun rights, most social conservatism) to be more on-target than the hippies and Kennedy liberals.

All that said, grits still are mainly just starch, much less than a hiker needs and IMO should expect from his grain foods.

Cookerhiker
05-18-2005, 20:32
I met Grits two weeks ago while section hiking from Allen Gap to Damascus. By now, he's probably between Bland and Pearisburg.

BTW, Grits is from Valdosta, Georgia.;) What, with a name like that, did you think he was from Portland, Maine?!

TDale
05-18-2005, 21:24
MSmith, that anson mills link I posted above is a good source. Fresh, whole grain grits, and other goodies. I've eaten them when in savannah and they are tasty.

bogey
05-18-2005, 21:54
Grits normally have the germ and bran removed, making them the corn nutritional equivalent of white wheat flour. If you know of a reasonably-priced supplier of grits that still have the nutritive portions (germ/bran) still present, please tell us the brand and seller.

BTW, TDale, I have spent more of my life in the South than everywhere else put together. My mother is 5th-generation Southern. I have multiple known ancestors that fought for the Confederacy, with NONE that I know of who fought in blue. I have moved around enough that I don't consider myself from any particular part of the country, just American. I consider Southern and (non-Left Coastal) Western mores (individualism, gun rights, most social conservatism) to be more on-target than the hippies and Kennedy liberals.

All that said, grits still are mainly just starch, much less than a hiker needs and IMO should expect from his grain foods.
http://www.ansonmills.com/products.html has whole grain grits

Krewzer
05-19-2005, 00:58
I met Grits two weeks ago while section hiking from Allen Gap to Damascus. By now, he's probably between Bland and Pearisburg.

BTW, Grits is from Valdosta, Georgia.;) What, with a name like that, did you think he was from Portland, Maine?!

Hey Cookerhiker,

If you run into Grits again, tell him Hello for me. I hiked NY to Katahdin with him a few years back. I haven't seen him in a couple of years. Like Baltimore Jack, he's another perpetual hiker and great guy.

Trail Dog
05-21-2005, 16:32
Gritts are the Army's way of punishing the soldier. And it dont matter where you are Georgia, Fort Drum NY or Kuwait the damn slimy tasteless goo o' the devil himself follows you around the world.

Dances with Mice
05-21-2005, 17:04
Gritts are the Army's way of punishing the soldier. And it dont matter where you are Georgia, Fort Drum NY or Kuwait the damn slimy tasteless goo o' the devil himself follows you around the world.Dood. Army cooks can make Prime Rib taste like roast dog.

Just joking! I've actually had some pretty good roast dog.

Grits can be manna from Heaven or white lava from Hell. Those who can't tell the difference are to be pitied. Poor you.