Okay, this poll is all Sarah and Tracey's fault.

Last week Kae and I had the huge pleasure of getting together with some terrific FoLCs: LauraU the YellowDart and BethyEm in Ohio, and Annette, Traceylynn and Sarah Luddy/Maksim in Pennsylvania. Now, since Sarah and Tracey are Southerners (just about), we asked them about that really weird Southern speciality which, from what I can tell, no-one likes yet it turns up with every single meal, whether you ask for it or not: grits.



Both Sarah and Tracey screwed up their faces when asked if they ate grits. And everyone around the table was wondering the same thing: does anyone actually like this stuff? :rolleyes:

So... here's your poll, Marylanders!


Wendy

This sounds an awful lot like haggis. I hear about it, specifically how gross it is, and can never imagine anyone ever actually choosing to eat the stuff except maybe to taste it. Yet it hasn't just gone the way of the dinosaur.

BTW, I chose the "never tried 'em/not really interested" option. They remind me of Cream of Wheat, which is something I avoid completely.

Lynn

When Elisabeth and I got married, we moved into a little apartment in downtown Hannibal, MO. When my folks(Do you know how hard it is to spell that word anymore!) came to visit, we would take them to a nearby resturant that served a buffet breakfast.

You could find Oatmeal, French Toast, pancakes, and this white stuff that resembled miniture wet tapioca pellets that had refused to congeal. I later found out that it was grits. It's actually not too bad with lots of butter, salt or honey (you pick).

I only ate it a few times. It tended to give me an upset stomach. Later, I found out it was made of corn, which I have a mild intolerance to.


James

Blech. It doesn't even *look* good. I first saw it at Basic Training in South Carolina, and stayed far far away from it.

However, I *do* know people who eat them. The local "southern" fast food chain, Bojangles, sells them. I've seen coworkers sit down with a bowl of grits from Bojangles, smother it with butter, salt, and pepper, and chow down. They actually seem to like it.

I've never tasted haggis. But I'm forever hearing from people who thought the same way, then tasted it, and found it delicious. Stuart was one just last week. Never ate the stuff in his life. Then one of his colleagues made it for them for dinner and he's now a convert. And that's saying something, coming from one of the most picky eaters I've ever known.

I might have to give it a try after all.

So maybe it's the same deal for grits. The thought of eating it is appalling, but once you do and try to forget its origins it actually tastes quite good?

LabRat

I chose other and here's why...I have tried them. I lived (against my will) in the south for a good long portion of my life so the subject of grits came up quite often. It's not the grits themselves you are eating when you eat them. It's the honey/syrup/butter you are actually eating. Grits are just like filler, wet cardboard/sawdust, no real taste and icky texture, but when they're the only thing available you make due....use LOTS OF SYRUP/HONEY!!

TEEEEEEJ

I've tried haggis, and I liked it.

Admittedly, I'm a vegetarian, and I had the vegetarian option, with no sheep entrails, but still it was good, and I'm sure it wasn't that far removed from the real thing

It was sort of like stuffing.

And now I think about it, when stuffing doesn't come in a box labelled Paxo, it is often made from sausagemeat, and that is really pig entrails. It all starts to lead up to haggis not being that bad after all.

Now we've wondered away from grits, so I shall attempt to bring it back on topic. I've always thought they were something like Grape Nuts, which are, well, gritty. My granddad liked them (Grape Nuts, not grits, which never made it to rural Wales) I never understood why, because they seem pretty boring as breakfasts go, even if you dressed them up with rasberrys*

I'll go now.

Helga

*Serving suggestion. Picture may not accurately depict contents

Grits... Yeah. I've heard of them, but in the great tradition of mystery foods, I've never been too sure what they are. Nor have I ever eaten 'em.

I always got the impression that they were like hard, gravelly porridge. I guess, though, that my impression has been partly shaped by the name. I mean, grits. Who in their right mind would call food something so utterly unappealling?

Haggis, now... I have eaten -- and enjoyed -- haggis. The only time I had it, it reminded me very strongly of the peppery-tasting shepherd's pie that Dad used to make with the left-overs of the Sunday joint of roast lamb. I guess the message here is don't knock sheep entrails until you've tried them. (Then again, I always wondered whether the stuff I had was the genuine article or whether it had been 'improved' for the tourist market.)

Chris

I've tried 'em. Can't eat 'em. They're just too... gritty. Not much real flavor to them, either. Plain white gritty mush. Yum.

OTOH, my mom inexplicably likes them. Every once in a while, when we're driving around in the South, she'll make sure to order a side of grits and she'll talk about how she was kind of craving them and aren't they great and isn't it such a shame that they're not available in the Northeast... To each their own, I guess.

Paul

Yes, I love grits and eat them often. But I was born and spent the first twenty-one years of my life in the South. Maybe you have to be born to it. Grits are nothing more than corn meal.

They can be eaten a variety of ways. One favorite is, after boiling,to turn them into a round mold, allow them to get cold and then slice and fry them like sausage patties in butter. Add maple syrup on top, and you're really indulging yourself. A dyed-in-the-wool southerner would use sorghum molasses, but that's definitely a taste you have to acquire.

They can be eaten as cereal with sugar and cream or with a little melted butter, salt and pepper as a side dish. You can add garlicky spices if you like. You can add bits of bacon, ham or sausage for a breakfast delight with poached eggs. Or serve them up with chicken or sausage gravy on top.

If you like Polenta, you probably know that it is just a smoother grind of grits. You can do anything with grits that you can do with Polenta.

Grits must be thick to be enjoyed. Thin, soupy grits are terrible and not worth ladling into the bowl or onto the plate.

For breakfast they are much healthier and less greasy than hash browns or cottage fried potatoes.

Thus endeth my praise for grits!

Jude

I've heard of grits, but have never tried them. I am from the NORTH <g>, so I don't think I will ever try them. Plus, I hate traditional breakfast foods -- waffles, and until recently pancakes. . . and the smell of syrup of any kind makes me a little sick. So I generally avoid restaurants where syrup might be.

ohh! I got it! Never heard about "grits", but Jude says is similar to Polenta, so I have a better idea of what it is. Well I like polenta, I'm not crazy about it, but I eat it, expecially if fried. But for breakfast? I'm very "italian" about breakfast, I think: croissant (called "cornetto") and cappuccino or caffellatte is what I eat!

simona

I've known about it, but I've never had it.

I picked, "Never had them but wouldn't mind trying them to see what all the fuss is about."

Though now after reading everyone's posts I'm not sure I know *what* they are now! My knowlege of them has been altered.

(off to look up Grits)

I've had them. They're so-so. I might eat them to be polite if I had to.

Hmmm... I've never tried them... always been a bit scared of them... But people comparing them to Cream of Wheat and polenta (both things I like)... I might have to reconsider. That said, I'm still a bit wary - maybe it's the name - so I probably won't actively seek out a taste.

Sara

Grits are coarsely ground hominy(corn), and rather like coarse cream of wheat. I've eaten them. There are plenty of things I like better, but I don't go into convulsions over them. Personally, I prefer them with salt and butter rather than with syrup.

Nan

I like them! I'm not from the south, but I've been eating them all my life. They're definitely coarser than oatmeal (which I also love) but they're more (imo) filling too.

I've never tried them with sugar, but raisins and cinnamon/sugar is good. Also, when I have an upset stomach, grits with butter and salt seem to be very soothing and filling without making me sick.

On the other hand, I don't care for cream of wheat; it had a weird sort of aftertaste the couple of times I tried it.

Kaylle
(And by the way, I'm annoyed you guys came to Ohio the week before I came home! )

Yes I like grits. I was born in Richmond, Va and my mother is from Arkansas. I never had them with syrup. My mother always served them with eggs. I like my with lots of butter and melted American Cheese. They are not gritty if cooked properly.

I tried them once and can't remember a thing about them, which probably means I neither disliked or liked them.

Now, haggis...YUM! I'm usually pretty squeamish about food, but only if it looks like the thing it is. For example, with my usual sense of adventure and curiosity about food, I once ordered seafood pasta in Venice and got this scary dish with a great big octopus thingy on the top, complete with tentacles. This was too much of a challenge to my adventurous spirit and I was only able to eat about a quarter of the pasta underneath. But haggis - well, it just looks like minced up meat mixed with barley, so that's fine. Tastes nice, goes great with mashed potatoes and neeps, and if you give me a really good malt whisky to wash it down with, all the better.

Yvonne

Am I right in thinking too that haggis is considered quite a healthy option? Lowfat compared to most red meats? Or am I havering and making this up as I go along?

LabRat (trying to expand her diet which has gotten into a restricted rut again and in something of a quandry since that Dispatches expose last week put her off chicken for life. :rolleyes: )

I went with "other." They're quite good when prepared with milk, sugar, and a little butter (sort of like cream of wheat, as other people mentioned). I don't like 'em as much as actual cream of wheat, but they're pretty good.

Made any other way (like with salt *shudder*), and I detest them.

They really don't taste much like polenta to me, any way they're served.

I posted "Other" and this is why: Garlic Grits!

Plain old grits don't have much in the taste department. However, my Grandmother is from Greensboro, North Carolina. She has a wonderful recipe for garlic grits. To make these you follow the regular recipe by boiling the grits to make a mush. Then you add milk, grated cheese, and minced garlic and bake the mixture in the oven for 30 minutes. Mmmmm Mmmmm. My kids love it too. It is especially good with fish.

Enjoy!
Anne

Ditto. I've lived in the south for almost 18 years now, and I still have another 9 months to go before I grab my college diploma and escape. I absolutely loathe grits. I don't get it. It's a bunch of white, tasteless stuff in a bowl that you have to top with condiments before it even begins to taste good. There's this great Italian restaurant in midtown, and one of their brunch dishes is shrimp and grits. Apparently, it's a popular combination? I don't get it.

JD
:p

There's nothing *wrong* with grits--just bland. Grits is just a kind of mush, actually. I'm rather brain dead from moving, but I think it's just ground up corn. Grits need salt and butter to make 'em any good. But grits is good. <G>

<eg> Now, if we really want a debate, we can go for the age-old discussion--is "grits" a singular or a plural word? Nobody's ever resolved it yet, so....

Laura

I'm from the south and I absolutely hate grits. I lived in Mississippi while I was in kindergarden and I remember 1 day out of the week when we would have grits for breakfast. The only way I could eat them was if I put a lot of butter and sugar on them. Eventually I started bring my breakfast on the days I knew we were having grits. That was 20 years ago, and it still haunts me.

Melisa

In honor of this thread, I had grits for breakfast today. And they were good

Kaylle

Now I know exactly what I'm getting everyone for Christmas this year.

This is completely true. Though we don't often talk about it. There is a Mandatory Daily Quota of Grits Per Person. (Or just G.P.P., if you're more familiar with the term.) According to the tables, which are reconfigured each year, a person's GPP is determined by body weight *and* how deep in the south he/she lives. Woe to those who don't eat their fill!! You get sent up north. Someplace bitterly cold where professional sports are played inside a dome! Or where you're forced to ice fish. Either one is bad enough.

Ok. I might have made some of that up, but I'm not saying which part.

Grits are yummy! But there's a crucial element to their proper preparation I haven't seen mentioned here. When you dish them up, if they slide or run off the spoon, Do Not Eat Them.

Seriously, if you ever remember one thing I ever taught you, let it be this:

Grits must cling.

They must clump. They must stay on the spoon even as you turn it upside down. It should be a wrestling match. You- shaking the spoon, trying to pry them loose so they'll land on your plate (hopefully right in between the ham, eggs, and red-eye gravy.) Grits- trying like all get out to just hold. on. a. bit. longer.

That is how grits should be served. Also, mix them with butter, salt, ham, bacon, eggs, shrimp... anything salty. Really, really, really good.

Really! Why would I lie?

CC

SEEEEEE!!! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE, I SAY, IMPOSSIBLE!!! It might have worked when one was a svelte 109lb-er, but after having two kids but at least there are no grits....

TEEEEEEEJ

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry.

Now, I know Maryland is technically below the Mason-Dixon line, but the thought of people from Maryland being classified as Southerners really cracks me up. (Especially Tracey and Sarah who love to pick on me about my supposed accent my use of the word y'all. <G>) I believe, technically, Maryland is now considered to be part of the "Mid-Atlantic States". It's not until you get to around Richmond that Virginia even becomes part of the South. Washington, DC certainly is not a "Southern" city (in the manner of Richmond, Raleigh, Atlanta, Birmingham, etc.)

To stay on topic, I have eaten grits many, many times, and while not one of my absolute favorite foods, I like them as much as any other breakfast food. As some of my fellow Southerners have pointed out, grits themselves taste like nothing, and the point is to load them up with good tasting thngs like butter and salt, or syrup or jelly. (Much like oatmeal, which I would never dream of eating plain.)

Annie

LOL Annie!

But I had to respond to this:

Tracey says y'all!! I heard her! Several times a day, in fact!

And, hey, they do serve grits in Maryland, which must count for something...


Wendy

Lots of non-Southerner people say y'all. I do. It's a useful word. (And far better than "you guys" or the dreaded "youse guys"! *shudder*)

Gasp! Sacrilege! You do realise that we Scots have a long-going feud with the English, partly because of their incomprehensible habit of putting sugar on porage. (Well, there are a few other things that we're holding a grudge on , but their desecration of porage is definitely one of them... )

LabRat

Oh, Wendy, Wendy, Wendy. I distinctly remember forbidding you to start a poll like this on the boards. Or, wait, nevermind - I just told you that I would laugh like crazy when you did <G>.

I have read through these responses with great interest, and I have to say, you guys gave some pretty enlightening replies. Especially you, CC - yours had me cracking up! A G.P.P.? Awesome.

Now, on the subject of grits, I have had them placed on my plate, but I can't remember ever having the courage to actually take a bite. Or maybe I did bite them once, and that was enough <g>. Either way, it's been a really long time. I do remember, however, that my grandparents used to eat them - and still do - fairly often. They like them with butter and a little salt and will tell you for a fact that grits are the key to a long and healthy life. Personally, I have my doubts, but hey, who I am to say?

Well, this poll confirms it. No topic too strange, no subject too off the wall for this board. I love that!

Tracey (who, as a Marylander, is constantly torn between the north and the south, and who does say y'all from time to time... as a result, of course, from her friendship with Annie <G>)

Annie, if we tease you for your use of the word "y'all," it's at least partly because you're not from the South yourself! The little bits of accent that you seem to have picked up from all over this fair country are great fun to poke fun at!

As for Maryland being a southern state... certainly my part of Maryland isn't. I'm still recovering from my visits to places where people actually trust you to pay for gas if you're allowed to pump before paying. But have you ever visited Southern Maryland? (No, DC is not "southern Maryland.") It's like its own little world, more similar to Georgia in some places than neighboring regions of Maryland. And they talk like Georgians, too.

I have friends who would actually eat grits at the dining hall when I was at school. I always thought it looked rather like oatmeal, but I declined to try some myself. *shudder* I don't think they put anything on them, though, just ate them however the dining hall served them.

I know this is about to veer off topic, but I just have to address this because it's something that fascinates me.

I can't say I've spent any quality time in Southern Maryland, no more than an occassional passing through. However, I know exactly what you mean because there are certainly parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania (both clearly Yankee states) that are pockets of the South. The area of Ohio I live in for awhile sported southern accents, a plethora of country music stations, pickup trucks with confederate flags and a Bible Belt mentality that rivals any southern state. In fact, I'd wager that it's more stereotypically "southern" than the actually Southern city I now reside in. There was even a town a few miles over with the slogan "come back soon, y'all" on their water tower. So I'm always intrigued by these southern pockets that seem to show up around the country. Maryland is less surprising, I guess, since it is (or was anyway) technically a Southern state. But I find it very interesting in more Northern states. I guess it has to do with how long families have lived in an area and where they came from previously.

True that. <G> And apropos my many moves (30+ moves in 20 years really ought to be some sort of record...) I'd like to mention that I just celebrated my fifth anniversary in Chapel Hill, officially doubling the longest amount of time I've ever lived in one city. If that doesn't make this home, I don't know what does. <G>

And now I'll stop rambling (sorry Wendy) and let this get back on topic. So, how about those grits...? <G>

Annie (who may not be Southern by birth, but figures that was just a slight mix up that was easily enough fixed once she was of legal age)

BACK to grits. I found a list called fun facts about Georgia and grits are mentioned specifically on this list

www.imao.us

TEEEEEEEJ

LOL!

Well, I distinctly remember trying grits as a kid. Now I don't have the faintest clue where I ran across it--having never lived farther south than Missouri, it wasn't a daily part of life or anything. Anyway, I was *not* impressed. They were bland, yucky, gross, even with syrup or whatever I put on them . . . and all too much like oatmeal, which I don't like either. Have never liked cooked cereals, to be exact. So no reason why I should like grits.

butter and brown sugar is good on grits, too.

Laura