Grits

In my ongoing quest to acquaint myself with Southern food (see my earlier post), i finally plucked up the courage yesterday to try some grits - of which i had only heard of from the (very funny) film "My Cousin Vinny" (I recommend it). It's a very Southern thing, a bit like cornbread and mac-and-cheese as a side - so i was gonna have to try it sooner or later. Grits date as far back as 1607, when the first colonists came ashore at Jamestown, Virginia. It's said that they were met by friendly Native Americans who offered steaming hot bowls of "rockahominie". This was softened maize seasoned with salt and animal fat. Hence, the birth of the American grit. I suppose the best description i can come up with is that it's like very thick porridge - except made with corn or maize instead of oat. I'm not sure where the name comes from but i was fervently hoping that it wasn't because it was like eating a mouthful of grit.

Like porridge (made with water anyway), the taste of the grits themselves is pretty bland - and it's what you add to it that makes the dish (so why bother with them i wondered, but then the same can be said for pasta or rice, i suppose). The grits in question this time were cheese grits. One thing i've noticed is that they love their cheese over here - and put it on a LOT of stuff (Sarah, you'd be in heaven). And the verdict? Actually very good. The taste reminded me of Heinz' tinned Macaroni Cheese so always a plus. The texture was interesting - not as gritty as i'd thought, but not just like mush - a very subtle roughness to it (if subtle can actually exist over here). So, come to the US, stay for the food? Not quite yet - but it's slowly winning me round. Watch this space. Now i'm off to read Harry Potter 6.