|
GRITS…they're
just not for breakfast anymore!
When
I've traveled and met people from different parts of
the world, one question that sometimes comes up when
they learn that I am from Louisiana and teach cooking
is, "Do you eat grits?" I answer in my best southern
drawl, "But of course, honey child." Okay, maybe I don't
say it exactly like that but I do tell them I grew up
on grits, as many of us raised in the south did. They
next ask, "Well, what exactly is a grit?" Now this is
a good question and one that a lot of people don't know
the answer to, including my husband, who has been eating
them since he was two years old. Grits are… simply put,
small broken grains of corn. They are made by initially
cleaning the corn kernels, then running them through
a millstone where they are ground to a certain texture
and then sifted. Two products are derived from this
process. The finest is corn meal or corn flour, the
more coarse product is grits. Grits and hominy are both
derived from dried corn, only hominy starts out by soaking
the corn in lye water for a day or two. The American
Indians, who gave us grits, did this to make it easier
to grind into flour and it gave it a different flavor.
It also performed an important nutritional function.
The alkaline water allowed the release of niacin that
could not otherwise be absorbed by the body. Lack of
niacin led to a disease called Pellagra which European
settlers suffered from but not the American Indians.
The settlers ate corn but apparently didn't eat a lot
of hominy.
A
few years ago, an interesting thing started happening
in restaurants around the country. You began to see
grits served as an entrée instead of just a breakfast
side dish. One of the most interesting ways that grits
has been served, especially in the South, is with sautéed
shrimp. When I did my Cajun Peppered Shrimp & Grits
in a Cajun Creole Class a few years ago, I got a tremendous
response to the recipe. More recently, I did a grits
dish called Savannah Pork Ragout with Creamy Grits,
which also was well received. Because it is a corn base,
grits can be combined with a lot of different foods.
Some people say they don't like the texture of grits
because they have probably only eaten them with a little
butter, salt and pepper, and as a result, they taste
somewhat bland or heavy. You might just be surprised
at how good it can taste when served with a wonderful
sauce to compliment it. So, take a chance and try this
southern favorite with a new twist. You can find one
of my grits recipes on the current recipe
page of this web site
More
What's Cooking:
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's
Hotel - London
Our Culinary Adventure
at Sea
Gourmet to Go
Santa Fe Culinary Adventure
New England Culinary
Institute
Je Me Souviens…..Quebec
City
Le
Cordon Bleu
My
Favorite Restaurant – French Laundry
My
Favorite Gadgets
Mardi
Gras and King Cakes
Grits…they’re
just not for breakfast anymore
|
