Grits, Cont’d

This is really funny because I went to a Southern-style restaurant to find something very Southern that I never had before. I was always curious to try the famous grits because they sounded very exotic. And then I discovered that I’m actually very familiar with them. They taste exactly like what we call mamalyga. Which I can make better than this restaurant.

I had to pour the Pure Crystal Hot Sauce on the grits to make the dish feel at least a tad exotic. But what was I supposed to choose? Eggs Benedict? That’s hardly Southern. It’s too early for short-rib. The Hangover Comfort? I don’t drink. The restaurant is so popular I could only make a reservation for 10 am. Everything else was taken.

Veyizmir, veyizmir, where is a person to taste something actually Southern? I’ve been to a famous Cajun place in St Louis but even a doofus like me knows enough to figure out that actual Cajun isn’t supposed to look and taste like dust.


9 thoughts on “Grits, Cont’d”

  1. According to wikipedia, mamalyga is polenta (as in Romania or Polish mamłyga*) which is made from plain dried corn while grits are supposed to be made from dried hominy (which has been nixtamalized) and has a slightly different taste…


        1. “What else is typically southern”

          Greens! (collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens) Do they make soup from Щавель кислий in Ukraine? In Poland sorrel soup (called szczaw) is the closest equivalent to greens.
          Baked ham (especially ,
          Okra (esp breaded and fried)
          Devilled eggs (not only southern but very good in the south)
          Cornbread (sweet or salty)
          Biscuits (quickbread)
          Chicken fried steak,
          Sweet potatoes (esp sweet potato casserole)
          Spare ribs (beef or portk)
          Fried catfish (I never liked it…)
          Black eyed peas,
          Lima bean soup (cooked on a ham bone)
          Getting hungry and nostalgic….


  2. Sweet tea
    potato salad
    macaroni and cheese
    fried chicken (you don’t deep bread or deep fry, you only lightly flour and you turn and turn with a knitting needle in a high-sided iron skillet)
    shrimp or crab stuffed eggplant or mirliton
    fried eggs with sauteed liver and grits
    smothered chicken with white beans
    stuffed bell peppers
    eggplant stuffed with crab or shrimp
    catfish courtbouillon
    turtle soup
    barbecued raccoon
    squirrel or possum stew / ragout
    rice and gravy generally
    fish sauteed and topped with shellfish (this used to seem excessive to me, expensive, but if you have caught both then gosh, it is good and you can afford it then)


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