Grits
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| Type | Porridge |
|---|---|
| Main ingredients | Ground corn |
| Variations |
Hominy grits Yellow speckled grits Cheese grits |
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Grits are a food made from corn that is ground into a coarse meal and then boiled. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy with the germ removed, which is corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization. Grits are usually served with other flavorings as a breakfast dish, usually savory. Grits were traditionally popular in the Southern United States but now are available nationwide. They may also be found as an evening entrée when made with shrimp. Grits should not be confused with boiled ground corn maize which makes "hasty pudding" or "mush" or when using coarse ground corn, which may be made into polenta, or the "mush" made from more finely ground corn meal.
Grits are of Native American origin and are similar to other thick maize-based porridges from around the world such as polenta.
The word "grits" is an uncountable noun, cf. "mashed potatoes." It derives from the Old English word "grytt," meaning coarse meal.
Grits have their origin in Native American corn preparation. Traditionally, the hominy for grits was ground on a stone mill. The ground hominy is then passed through screens, the finer sifted material used as grit meal, and the coarser as grits. Many American communities used a gristmill until the mid-twentieth century, farmers' bringing their corn to be ground, and the miller's keeping a portion as his fee. State law in South Carolina requires grits and rice meal to be enriched, similar to the requirement for flour, unless the grits were made from the corn which a miller kept as his fee.
Three-quarters of grits sold in the U.S. are bought in the South, in an area stretching from Texas to Virginia that is sometimes called the "grits belt". The state of Georgia declared grits to be its official prepared food in 2002. Similar bills have been introduced in South Carolina, with one declaring:
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