The first time the term Comfort Food appeared in print was in 1977 in the Washington Post Magazine. It was used in reference to grits. Two decades later comfort food is a household phrase and has grown to describe many beloved foods like macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and grilled cheese sandwiches (to name a few). Foods that feed the body and the soul.
Grits are comfortable. They are warm and filling, just as perfect with cheese on a cold night as they are with sliced summer tomatoes on a humid July morning. But to me they are at their best in winter, topped with a fried egg and accompanied by a cup of homemade hot chocolate.
As with any seemingly simple food there are crucial steps that must be followed to make it just right....
The first thing I ever learned about grits was you have to stir them, especially in the first 15 minutes of cooking. While I often slack on this rule and sometimes leave a pot of grits unstirred for an extended amount of time, the great cooks in my life, my mother and grandmother, would swear (if they did swear) by this notable key to good grits. Be the youngest cook in any southern kitchen and take on the task of making grits and you will find there are several important "keys" to good grits that your elders are willing to share.
You need lots of water. Just like when making pasta, the grits need room to move around, expand, and absorb the salted water. I will go by the measurements on the box, always adding at least an extra cup of water. As the grits cook and thicken I stir in more water or pour a puddle into the center of them and cover. I admit I do not know exactly what this does but, my grandmother always did it and so do I.
Another important aspect in making grits is adding plenty of salt. This is crucial and the true test of a restaurant's quality of grits. Some where down the road, there was a misprint on a bag of grits changing the amount of salt in a recipe from two teaspoons (for 4 servings) to a scant teaspoon ( i.e. from a palm-full to a dash) and deceived breakfast establishments have been following this for years to many an eater's disappointment. In a good restaurant when your grits arrive they don't need any additional salt. They have been salted WHILE cooking. Like pasta if you don't salt the water the pasta will have no flavor and no salt after the fact will change that.
The final key to good grits is time. When you can find bags promising "Quick grits" it is a deception. You can make them quick and eat them quick but you will not enjoy them the way they should be eaten. They need to cook for at least 45 minutes in order to have time to thicken and soften. Go have a cup of coffee and read the comics. It will be worth your wait.
In the end you will have grits that are flavorful, creamy and hot.
Comfortable.
3 comments:
Thanks for the grits info. Love it. And the comfort food. Had no idea of its history. I use that term all the time and need it on a regular basis :)
Hi I'm an ignorant Aussie & I'm always hearing about Grits, can you pls pls tell me what they are & what they are made of - very curious - thks ange
Thanks for commenting Mona and Ange!! Ange, Grits are ground dried corn. They are very similar to polenta, but different, especially hominy grits. Here is some info I found: Most or all of the outside yellow part or bran is removed so it is just the inside of the kernel. There are too types, Corn Grits and Hominy Grits. Corn grits are ground kernels that are then sifted to remove most of the outside bran but some of it still remains in with the grits. The bran never softens up when cooked and add more of a course texture to the cooked grits. With Hominy grits the corn kernels are soaked in lye and stirred over a day or two. The kernels will swell to twice their size (like popcorn) so the brans come off and float to the top and are removed. The inside is then rinsed and spread out over cloth or screen to dry. Once dried they are ground into grits. I cook hominy grits and eat them with butter(like the pic)and cheese grits are really popular. Some people cook them in milk or chicken broth for richer tasting grits. A favorite preparation is shrimp and grits. The grits are topped with shrimp that has been cooked with bacon, garlic, and onion. There are many variations on this and all grits recipes. If you ever find yourself in the Southeastern U.S. you will have to try some and hopefully they will be cooked right!
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