The farthest north I’ve seen grits on a menu was in a glorified hotdog stand in Chicago. Could have been a soul food place – I seem to remember collard greens on the menu as well. It was when I lived in Chicago that I learned that soul food and southern food were different names for the same cuisine.
A diner near Thurgood Marshall Baltimore airport had both grits and scrapple on the menu, which I thought was a good illustration of Baltimore’s place between the North and the South, culinarily.
In the late nineties, my roommate brought his new Rhode Island-born boyfriend (now husband) to Atlanta to meet me, and we took him to a barbecue joint. We discovered that not only had he never had hushpuppies, he’d never even heard of them.
I never had grits till I moved below the Mason-Dixon line ~30 years ago. I hated them at first and banished them from my palate for twenty long years. Then, I figured it was time to give grits a chance at redemption, so I tried them again…and loved them. Lo and behold I realized I just had badly prepared grits when I first tried them (at a greasy spoon).
Now grits are part of my breakfast menu rotation. For a treat fry up some bacon and sliced mushrooms, then crumble the bacon and ‘rooms into the grits, drizzle in a little bacon grease, then mix it all about. Add butter, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste You won’t be sorry.
I’ve always loved hushpuppies (aka little golden orbs of joy) with seafood and they are indeed abundant in the South (though I’m pretty sure I had them up North first). They’re a cinch to whip up (I add whole kernel sweet corn and jalapenos to mine).
But, when I don’t want to bother making them and firing up the deep fryer, I just plunk a few frozen Savannah Classics® Sweet Corn Hushpuppies into the air-fryer, and 5 minutes later—those puppies are barking as I pop them into my mouth. If you stumble upon this brand in the wild aisles of your local market (Kroger delivery carries them), snag 'em – they’re a culinary touchdown! The real deal.