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epoch
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Dec 19, 2006, 12:01 PM
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To a Southerner, eating grits is practically a religion, and breakfast without grits is unthinkable. A true grit lover would not consider instant or quick-cooking grits; only long-cooking stone-ground grits are worth eating. Outside of the southern states, the reaction to grits is mixed.
Grits are served as a side dish for breakfast or dinner and are traditionally eaten with butter and milk. three-quarters of the grits sold in the United States are from a belt of coastal states stretching from Louisiana to the Carolinas, known as the "Grits Belt."
Grits (or hominy) were one of the first truly American foods, as the Native Americans ate a mush made of softened corn or maize. In 1584, during their reconnaissance party of what is now Roanoke, North Carolina, Sir Walter Raleigh and his men met and dined with the local Indians. Having no language in common, the two groups quickly resorted to food and drink. One of Raleigh's men, Arthur Barlowe, recorded notes on the foods of the Indians. He mad a special not of corn, which he found "very white, faire, and well tasted." He also wrote about being served a boiled corn or hominy.
When the colonists came ashore in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the Indians offered them bowls of this boiled corn substance. The Indians called it "rockahomine," which was later shortened to "hominy" by the colonists. The Indians taught the colonists how to thresh the hulls from dried yellow corn. Corn was a year-round staple and each tribe called it by a different name.
In the Low Country of South Carolina and particularly Charleston, shrimp and grits has been considered a basic breakfast for coastal fishermen and families for decades during the shrimp season (May through December). Simply called 'breakfast shrimp," the dish consisted of a pot of grits with shrimp cooked in a little bacon grease or butter. During the past decade, this dish has been dressed up and taken out on the town to the fanciest restaurants. Not just for breakfast anymore, it is also served for brunch, lunch, and dinner.
In 1976, South Carolina declared grits the official state food:
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 grist 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 The Charleston News 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.'
The coffee today is a traditional brew. None of that filter crap, so suck it up and deal with the grounds. There's eggs and bakey on the fire. I'm off tomorrow to enjoy me some Sierria Cement, and some real weather. See Y'all in a week!
LMWB (ADHD) Version: You might want to read this. How can you Texans pass up Grits?
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thomasribiere
Dec 19, 2006, 12:12 PM
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morning! I didn't know grits. It must be because I've never been in the south-east states. It looks good and nurishing, though not very "gastronomic"...
Time for my after-lunch coffee.
My nose is almost OK again, with corticoids and antibiotics (self-medication...).
Have fun, and hurry-up if you still have gifts to buy for Xmas. I myself didn't buy anything, but as I'm gonna spend Xmas alone, I don't really care!
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stonefoxgirl
Dec 19, 2006, 12:17 PM
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Good Morning! First-timer here! Just black coffee for me and some fruit. Hope ya'll have a great day. Is it bad to wish for global warming to stick around for just another 2 weeks so I can go climbing for New Year's weekend? .......well it doesn't look like I can ski in this weather......
Thanks for the Grits info! Interesting.....
LzzL
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wideguy
Dec 19, 2006, 12:54 PM
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epoch wrote: To a Southerner, eating grits is practically a religion, and breakfast without grits is unthinkable. A true grit lover would not consider instant or quick-cooking grits; only long-cooking stone-ground grits are worth eating. Vinny wrote: Vinny Gambini: How could it take you five minutes to cook your grits when it takes the entire grit-eating world 20 minutes? Mr. Tipton: Um... I'm a fast cook, I guess. Vinny Gambini: [across beside the jury] What? I'm sorry I was over there. Did you just say you were a fast cook? Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than any place on the face of the earth? Mr. Tipton: I don't know. Vinny Gambini: Perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans?
Skip the grits. Give me coffee.
(This post was edited by wideguy on Dec 19, 2006, 12:56 PM)
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maww
Dec 19, 2006, 1:32 PM
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I need an extra large dose of both. I have been up since 5:27am for NO F**KIN' REASON. I'm gonna pay later on today so we might as well start the coffee IV drip. 
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JetTeach
Dec 19, 2006, 1:38 PM
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Coffee, extra black, and a sausage biscuit for me.
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arrettinator
Dec 19, 2006, 2:12 PM
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Morning yinz.
My daughter has a cold.
Another long night.
Cinnamon in my coffee today.
Have a good one, yinz.
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krillen
Dec 19, 2006, 2:27 PM
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mornin' all, busy day today....the green stuff coming out my nose might mean this cold is a sinus infection...loverly...
XXL regular please. You can keep you grits....
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reno
Dec 19, 2006, 2:31 PM
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XL coffee, and XXXXXXL bowl of grits. With hot sauce.
In fact, I was gonna cook breakfast for my missus when she gets home from a night shift... about an hour from now. Maybe I'll make some grits.
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wjca
Dec 19, 2006, 2:32 PM
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There is a restaurant here in town (a somewhat upscale sort of place that I usually don't eat at) that has Shrimp and Grits on their menu for lunch and dinner. I really think that they added the grits just to hold the butter together and keep it from running all over the plate. It's so good, it'll make you wanna slap ya momma.
(This post was edited by wjca on Dec 19, 2006, 2:32 PM)
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lisamariewillbe
Dec 19, 2006, 3:26 PM
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In reply to: LMWB (ADHD) Version: You might want to read this. How can you Texans pass up Grits?
I myself am a grit
G-irls
r-aised
i-n
t-he
s-outh
Duhhhh , but I couldnt eat a grit, they look yucky.
Coffee today is gingerbread latte.......YUM
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fenix83
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Dec 19, 2006, 3:28 PM
Post #12 of 27
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Buenos días gente...
Shitty day yesterday, shitty night, and today has all the makings of a shitty, shitty day... I just want all this crap to be over...
I'll take a XXL bootblack and some comfort food please.
-F
edited cuz ay caint spill good...
-F
(This post was edited by fenix83 on Dec 19, 2006, 3:28 PM)
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epoch
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Dec 19, 2006, 4:23 PM
Post #13 of 27
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lisamariewillbe wrote: I myself am a grit G-irls r-aised i-n t-he s-outh Duhhhh , but I couldnt eat a grit, they look yucky. 
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charley
Dec 19, 2006, 5:18 PM
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lisamariewillbe wrote: In reply to: LMWB (ADHD) Version: You might want to read this. How can you Texans pass up Grits? I myself am a grit G-irls r-aised i-n t-he s-outh Duhhhh , but I couldnt eat a grit, they look yucky. Coffee today is gingerbread latte.......YUM
I think maybe I could eat grits now.
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tradman
Dec 19, 2006, 5:24 PM
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I'd love to try grits. It sounds a bit like porridge, but better tasting (not difficult).
Chewy coffee for me too!
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reno
Dec 19, 2006, 5:40 PM
Post #17 of 27
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tradman wrote: I'd love to try grits. It sounds a bit like porridge, but better tasting (not difficult).
Grits, by themselves, are rather tasteless. Bland might be a better word. They have taste, but not much of one.
It's what you put ON the grits that matters. And depending on which Southerner you ask, you'll get different replies as to "What's best on grits?"
Personally, I prefer a splash of hot sauce (Tabasco.) I've seen butter, salt and pepper, cheese, jam/jelly, and peanut butter on grits (*not at the same time, though.*)
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winter
Dec 19, 2006, 6:18 PM
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Man, winter is tired these days. Younger boys can just stay up late and go all day....this girl needs her beauty sleep!! 
Had the most epic day ever at the hill on Friday, it was seriously one of the best days of my whole life of skiing. :contented sigh:
Gearing up for the holidays, only a few days off work but can't wait.
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pjdf
Dec 19, 2006, 6:27 PM
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No coffee or grits for me. Can I just get some muscle relaxants? My neck is still acting up, and it's driving me nuts. It's not terrible, but I like being able to look over my shoulder to the left.
Mawww, hope you manage to stay awake; Fenix, hope you have a better day today.
And, in my experience, the food grits, ugh. Now the other type of grits, 
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jbird2
Dec 19, 2006, 6:30 PM
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lisamariewillbe wrote: I myself am a grit G-irls r-aised i-n t-he s-outh
reno wrote: Grits, by themselves, are rather tasteless. Bland might be a better word. They have taste, but not much of one. It's what you put ON the grits that matters. And depending on which Southerner you ask, you'll get different replies as to "What's best on grits?" Personally, I prefer a splash of hot sauce (Tabasco.) I've seen butter, salt and pepper, cheese, jam/jelly, and peanut butter on grits (*not at the same time, though.*)
Bland?
Hot Sauce?
YIKES!
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lisamariewillbe
Dec 19, 2006, 7:15 PM
Post #21 of 27
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jbird2 wrote: lisamariewillbe wrote: I myself am a grit G-irls r-aised i-n t-he s-outh reno wrote: Grits, by themselves, are rather tasteless. Bland might be a better word. They have taste, but not much of one. It's what you put ON the grits that matters. And depending on which Southerner you ask, you'll get different replies as to "What's best on grits?" Personally, I prefer a splash of hot sauce (Tabasco.) I've seen butter, salt and pepper, cheese, jam/jelly, and peanut butter on grits (*not at the same time, though.*) Bland? Hot Sauce? YIKES!
Bland 
Hot sauce , hmmmmm interesting
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lisamariewillbe
Dec 19, 2006, 7:28 PM
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mmm Nice to meet you Reno.... I feel all deja vu'ish
In reply to: Come here often?
Nah I hate online forums, just stopped in for coffee and *cough* hot sauce
In reply to: What's your sign?
"Grits to go"
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jbird2
Dec 19, 2006, 8:43 PM
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LMAO! 
Reno & lmwb I want a finders fee....
That is some funny stuff.
Tabasco & Grits should never ever ever be mixed.
My stomach is flipping at the thought!
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