# The natural range of Hush Puppies and grits on menus **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 25, 2024, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605 "2024-01-25T01:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/21 "2024-01-25T03:54:11Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Here in Sacramento, grits only seem to appear at soul food restaurants or on store shelves. DH dislikes instant, but likes what he can get from a restaurant. I haven’t been interested in trying them for some reason.   I first tried them at that soul food restaurant that we tried, [Sarom’s Southern Kitchen](https://www.saromssouthernkitchen.com/), and very much liked their _Shrimp and Grits_.   During a time when I was working on one project, where the whole crew usually went to lunch together, one restaurant at which we had lunch once was [Sauced BBQ & Spirits](https://www.saucedbbqandspirits.com/sacramento-menus/).  On that occasion, I had, as a side, their cheese jalepeño grits, which I also very much liked.   My experience with instant grits at home has been inconsistent, and not entirely satisfactory.  It seems to have at least an even chance of coming out with a very unpleasant paste-like consistently, very unpleasant to eat.   I very much wish that I knew of an easy, inexpensive way to obtain grits as an at-home food item, that were anywhere close to my experience with restaurant-based grits.  It is, perhaps, a bit carby for me, as a diabetic, to eat as a main staple item, but I have found the restaurant versions to be very tasty and satisfying to eat, and it seems to me like a very good thing to eat on a work day—very filling, and it seems to give me a lot of energy. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Blaylock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_blaylock/32/3235_2.png) [@Bob\_Blaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Blaylock)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/22 "2024-01-25T03:59:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If you hate grits, and you’ve only had instant grits, you don’t hate grits, you hate spackling paste.   That would be almost consistent with my experiences so far.  I have consistently very much liked what few instances of grits I have had from restaurants.   My attempts at preparing instant grits at home, has more often than not resulted in something barely edible, and for which I would not consider it at all invalid to liken it to spackling paste.  I did manage, on a few occasions, to get it to come out edible, but not nearly as good as restaurant grits. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/23 "2024-01-25T04:27:32Z")
Instant grits are to regular grits like instant potatoes to real mashed potatoes. Don’t buy them. Hush puppies are a good idea. And can be good. Like said above, grease soaked balls are often what you get. It’s like a good cornbread recipe. You get light fluffy tasty corn bread or you get a plank-o’-corn crud. All in the recipe. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/24 "2024-01-25T04:31:13Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I’ve seen grits on the menu in Iowa, in diners and coffee shops that serve breakfast. In 1972 our family traveled from Minnesota south to a conference hosted by the company that one of our parents worked for. It was at a lake resort, and the meals were all buffet style. They had grits on the buffet for breakfast everyday. I asked my mother what was that (disgusting) stuff, and she explained it was grits. “You should eat them, you’re in the South now. Just put lots of sugar on it.” We were at Lake Okijobi, in far-northern Iowa. Yes, Iowa, home of exotic southern cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/25 "2024-01-25T04:33:15Z")
Putting sugar on grits is like putting sugar on rice. Not done where I live. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/26 "2024-01-25T04:51:30Z")
I like Grits. I don’t see them on a lot of breakfast menus around Little Rock. I usually will order them when they’re available I rarely cook them at home. They often stick to the bottom of the pan. Old fashioned Southern Grits take awhile to cook on low heat. I don’t buy instant grits. I like mixing a over medium fried egg into my grits. 😋 Yolk needs to be fairly firm. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/27 "2024-01-25T04:59:01Z")
My Cousin Vinny [encounters grits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWC0sKCS5oA), and [in court](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T24lHnB7N8). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/28 "2024-01-25T05:13:11Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Can’t stand grits, hush puppies are great unless you get some that are fried too long or heavy on the onion; ick. I concur. My buddy once bet me he could make grits I liked. He fried the mush, added some crumbled bacon and a handful of shredded cheese. I loved them, and he said “See!?”. I point out with enuf bacon and cheese library paste would be good too. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > If you hate grits, and you’ve only had instant grits, you don’t hate grits, you hate spackling paste. Good grits are the bomb, especially yellow grits. I have tried those- not terrible but still, I would MUCH prefer hash browns. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/29 "2024-01-25T05:29:24Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > Hush puppies were a staple side item in my Grandparents’ cuisine. They were born and raised in Southeastern Missouri (basically Arkansas). > > Their cuisine did not include grits. My husband’s grandmother in south central Iowa made hush puppies but not grits. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/30 "2024-01-25T06:34:25Z")
I like Italian grits otherwise known as polenta. Grits were served in every Army chow hall across the world for breakfast. I never ate it. I have seen Shrimp and grits showing up on menus in fancier restaurants even in New Jersey. Or they sometimes call it polenta. It’s usually quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/31 "2024-01-25T06:37:51Z")
I like my grits fried. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/32 "2024-01-25T06:44:44Z")
Having grown up in the upper Midwest (northern Illinois and Wisconsin), I’m pretty certain that those areas are well north of the “natural range” of either dish. I had never heard of hush puppies (as a food, that is) before vacationing in Kentucky. I suspect that the northern bound of its range is around there. Grits are probably similar, at least originally, though the expansion of restaurants which serve Southern specialties have helped them expand beyond that original range – for example, there are Cracker Barrel restaurants in the upper Midwest now, and grits are on the menu there. For what it’s worth, when I worked at Quaker Oats (based in Chicago) in the late 1990s, we had grits in our cafeteria all the time, largely because Quaker was (and is) a major producer of grits, despite being based in the North. I even worked on Quaker Grits for a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/33 "2024-01-25T06:53:56Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > My Cousin Vinny [encounters grits](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWC0sKCS5oA), and [in court](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T24lHnB7N8). A brilliant portrayal of how to undermine the credibility of an eyewitness by dismantling a critical part of their statement through research. But better still is [the definitive testimony of an expert witness](https://youtu.be/CFdJza0AbeA?si=y4m_Mj9leB6apbbo), aptly drawn out for the jury by direct examination. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/34 "2024-01-25T07:36:01Z")
Hush puppies are a great way to use up the leftover breading mix when you are making fried catfish. That’s why you see them in fish restaurants. Plus they are just a PITA to make if you don’t have a deep fryer. But dang they are delicious. Y’all got me started wanting some now! I’ll eat grits in any form, but @Bob_Blaylock you need to stop buying instant grits. Get some real grits and put them in the pressure cooker. Use milk instead of water, and add about 1/3 milk more than the instructions say. The restaurant ones are good because they’ve been cooking on low for about 4 hours. The pressure cooker will simulate that process in about 35 minutes (15ish min on high pressure). And don’t forget a pinch of salt. As for geographic range, grits are not usual in Northern Virginia. I’d be surprised not to find them in a Richmond breakfast joint. I think the line has moved north to about Fredericksburg these days. But if you go West of the Blue Ridge then it moves even North of me. Grits are a hard-working-farm-boy thing. They are too many calories for office workers. I’m betting you’d find plenty of regular grit eaters in Ohio. Hush puppies are just anywhere people are breading seafood. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/35 "2024-01-25T07:39:39Z")
@Bob_Blaylock doesn’t cook (been married to him for almost 29 years now). ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/36 "2024-01-25T07:57:52Z")
I have some coarse ground cornmeal, is that all I need? Or are grits ground to a different size? ---
**Author:** ![Dialo\_Malison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dialo_malison/32/14734_2.png) [@Dialo\_Malison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dialo_Malison)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/37 "2024-01-25T08:03:59Z")
I was born and raised in Western North Carolina. Here any restaurant that serves breakfast has grits. Any that primarily serves seafood has hush puppies. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Putting sugar on grits is like putting sugar on rice. Not done where I live. I grew up eating grits with sugar (and butter). Still do. I also put sugar on rice and green peas. This was how my paternal great grandmother ate them and she taught me to do the same. In my twenties, I learned to eat rice and peas without sugar (to be healthier) but I draw the line at grits. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/38 "2024-01-25T08:11:59Z")
Grits are made from hominy which is a processed corn. If you cook coarse cornmeal you get cornmeal mush. Which is an abomination. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/39 "2024-01-25T08:16:11Z")
Beck, are you known far and wide for your grits? I don’t remember you writing about them in your cooking escapades. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2024, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605/40 "2024-01-25T08:17:29Z")
Why yes I am. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-natural-range-of-hush-puppies-and-grits-on-menus/996605.md?page=3)