I’ve never had grits either. I’m not fond of breakfast cereal generally, but I’d try them if I saw them.
Thanks for the explanations about the other items.
Grits = cornmeal (maize) mush = polenta.
Borscht is two wildly different things.
The cold stuff is Ashkenazi Jewish. It’s basically beet water with a little seasoning and some grated beet. Served ice cold with a cold boiled potato and some sour cream, it’s very refreshing in hot weather.
Eastern European borscht is a thick beef soup with meat and grated or finely chopped root veggies — potato, turnip, carrot, cabbage, and beetroot — seasoned with paprika, very hearty and definitely a winter dish.
I’ve never eaten egg salad. I have eaten both hard-boiled eggs and mayonnaise on occasion, and I really, really do not need to try the experiment to know that I would like them even less if they were mixed together.
And the Polish version is usually a clear broth, sometime slightly sour from fermented beets, served either with uszka, a Polish tortellini, so the net effect is like a tortellini al brodo, or with meat-stuffed croquettes. This is the borscht I grew up with. This is also often served simply in mugs and drank. It’s been years, but I remember it being served at the end of the gondola/cable car at the top of the mountain in Zakopane.
We do the cold one, too, which I love, but we call that chłodnik, which means something like “cooler/that which cools.” There’s a Lithuanian restaurant by my house that does their version of it (name I forget) and served with with a couple small roasted potatoes on the side, which go so perfectly with it.
Grits are like a white cornmeal, aren’t they? Very bland, like a porridge? I’ve had grits made into cakes and deep fried, with shrimp in a white sauce poured over, at a wedding - just wonderful! But mostly I’ve had a big bowl of white grits as part of breakfast at Denny’s, or a diner. Not much taste, though I understand you can dress them up or dress them down. I consider them a good base for holding a good sized piece of butter, with salt and pepper.
*Okroshka *is delicious and refreshing as well. I first had it in Riga back in 1975. It clearly made an impression on me:
Grits are ground hominy, aren’t they? That’s why they’re white.
They’re delicious when cooked with milk, butter, and lots of grated cheddar cheese, the sharper the better. Serve with ham, eggs, fried taters, and redeye gravy. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm! :o
The origin of the Graham cracker. It was meant to keep you master of your own domain/lord of your manor/queen of your castle: 
Never had lobster or clams. I’m not a fan of seafood or fish except for shrimp. I have reluctantly gone to family fish fries and eaten. The best part of the meal is the coleslaw and hush puppies. 
Never had lamb.
I’m not a fan of pork loin roast. I will eat it to be polite. I do like sausage and ham.
There’s dozens of International dishes I’ve never had the opportunity to try. I’m not an adventurous eater.
There’s white borscht, too.
My impression, likely wrong, is that Polish beet borscht broth tends to be vegetarian while Russian or Ukrainian versions start as a bone broth.
The absolute best American breakfast sausage:
:o
For one brief, shining moment, Jimmy Dean piloted a Habanero breakfast sausage. Was delicious, but they dropped the idea after about 6 months.
Speaking of borscht reminded me that I don’t believe I’ve ever eaten a beet.
I hate beets - but somehow my mother transformed them into something tasty when she made borscht.
Wish I had her recipe.
Cold pickled beets and onions make a nice side dish on a hot humid day. And you can drop shelled hard-boiled eggs into the leftover liquid to make pretty purple pickled eggs.
It wasn’t a family heirloom recipe, that is for sure.
I’ve got 3 different types of spam in my cupboard right now. Hickory, Jalapeno, and regular.
No, I know it was sole because mom went to the fishmonger and said “I want some sole”. As opposed to flounder or other flatfish.
I agree, it’s pretty generic tasting.
I thought grits was the same as polenta, but obviously not. I wonder where I could buy it here? Anyway, grits aren’t just for breakfast, are they? I was sent a Louisiana cookbook and I think there was a main meal recipe in it that was “grits and something”. I remember thinking it sounded nice and that I might try making it. (don;t have the book handy to look it up right now, obviously)
I’ve never tried a lot of “mainstream” American things that I hear about on TV/in movies. Things like Twinkies and Moonpies and other “stuff” like that. You can get American sweets/candies here, but to be honest the look of those Twinkies on the packet has never enticed me to try one.
Watch Alton Brown.
Grits and polenta are the same thing, and they aren’t. Grits are milled finer, and generally from hominy (nixtamalized dent corn). Polenta is ground coarser and uses yellow flint corn. Both are milled corn products.
Grits should be served with butter, salt, pepper, butter, cheese, hot sauce, pepper, butter, crumbled bacon, cheese, butter and some more pepper.