That’s all consistent with what I thought to be true.
One thing I learned a while back is that Masa Harina is dried after grinding, unlike grits.
That’s most grains in my experience: they taste like their seasonings.
Really good sweet corn is an exception.
The problem is that grits and polenta can be made from either. Most grits I’ve seen sold use hominy, but I know people will use coarse dry ground meal that hasn’t been nixtamalized (no idea if i spelled that right) to make it themselves. Conversely I make polenta from hominy grits. Until the Supreme Intergalactic Dictionary of Food Definitions and Proper Use of Condiments is published there’s no real answer to this. But your general observation is true, generally grits use hominy, polenta uses meal.
You win the Internet for today!
On her last visit a good friend from South Carolina brought me a huge sack of Local Craft Artisanal Organic white grits from a mill near her farm. I’ve been cooking 'em up with Italian stuff on the side and calling it “polenta” for several months now. I’ve not been called on it by any other Brooklyn foodies.
Not anymore, maybe - I just saw an article from the Post and Courier that they might be going under!
I have a really good nonstandard grits recipe - it’s really an oven casserole, but very tasty. Please don’t tell anybody it’s from Paula Deen. You’re going to want to reduce that, though, because as written it makes a ridiculous amount.
Piggly Wiggly stores are all independently owned and operated. The sale you read about is just for the 17 located in SC and some of GA. They will continue to be called Piggly Wiggly, just under new ownership.
Or, as my wife calls them, The Pig & Wig.
That must be why you so often find them in towns and tiny cities where there are no other chains. (The one in Florala, AL comes to mind- that and a Hardy’s are about the only two recognizable brand businesses in the town.)
Not to be all foodie, but instant grits have a different texture, and it’s a texture I find pretty terrible, kind of like a mouthful of library paste. And good grits do have a slight corn flavor to them that’s part of the deliciousness.
The talk about grits being made from hominy distinct from corn is a bit misleading. I had to go look it up to be sure I understood: hominy is just corn treated with lye in a particular way. So yeah, grits are made from corn, they’re just made from treated corn. They do taste a lot like polenta to me.
Baker, Mrs. Plant (v.3.) verifies 4:1.
How is it misleading? It’s a difference in taste to me. Hence my confusion. As most commonly encountered, the difference between polenta and grits is that polenta uses non-treated corn, and grits use nixtamalized corn. It’s like the corn meal vs masa talk. Same sort of difference. Maybe you find them to taste the same as well. I don’t. I generally prefer (hominy) grits to polenta. Just like I add masa harina to my chili, but adding cornmeal, while a similar idea, just doesn’t taste the same.
There’s a 200 year old mill near my house that grinds fresh grains and sells “artisanal” (probably over-priced) grits, corn meal, etc. If anyone wants some, let me know - I’ll go over, get a price + shipping and let you know how much it is and I’ll send it to you.
StG
We just call it The Pig.
http://www.ttownpig.com/weekly-ad.html
Oh, my daughter has an “I Dig the Pig” t-shirt that we picked up at the last one we visited.
Logan Turnpike in Blairsville?
Now THEM’S some grits!
Not saying anyone is trying to be misleading–but I suspect most folks don’t know that hominy is just corn treated with lye, so when someone says that hominy tastes distinct from corn, it sounds a bit as though hominy isn’t corn, y’see? Definitely they taste different, just as cornbread tastes different from spoon bread, even though they’re both made from corn, just as polenta tastes different from grits, even though they’re both made from corn. All I’m saying. Again, not saying anyone is trying to be dishonest or anything, just clarifying a point that may need clarifying.
Good to see you on the Board, you old foodie.
John Thorn rules.
My copy of Serious Pig is always within reach.
what coffee doing in a gravy recipe?
But, how many of his other books do you have? Hmm?
Points to you for even knowing who he is.
You ain’t from below the Mason-Dixon line, are you son?