Talk:Grits

Baked Cheese Grits

While growing up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky (located at the EXTREME northern limit of the Upper South) I recall that the public school that I went to (Robert D. Johnson Elementary) would serve cheese grits for breakfast (which I would rarely arrive at as I walked to school and usually just made it in the nick of time) and then they would make a baked cheese grits cassarole for a side-dish which was served at lunch, those baked cheese grit cassaroles were fantastic, do other people in the South also eat left-over grits in this way or was it a unique thing. It would be cool to have a section in the article that might include the various ways that grits are prepared and served (maybe by region, city, or state). A few simple recipes might also enrich this article. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.224.0.193 (talk) 15:44, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

I love cheese grits casserole! I wouldn't mind seeing a picture of grits prepared in this fashion as well. The grits in the main article's photo look watered down. here is a photo of a casserole: [1]. I wish I had a non copyright pic.

Alternate or Alternative

These are two completely different words. Collectively the United States seems to be completely unable to learn the distinction, which is quite a simple one, really... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.79.175.13 (talk) 20:39, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Sweet Tea

Why the link to Sweet Tea? Is this a drink especially commonly taken with grits? If so, that should be mentioned in the article. If not, the link seems out of place. - Molinari 20:54 1 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Hey now

Hey now, Micheal Tinkler, don't start something with NC. We eat grits the way the rest of ya'll do, with salt, pepper, cheese, or bacon. Maybe some others try weird things, but thats not the norm up here. I've lived here all my life and so have my parents and grandparents. By the way, most bbq is either tomato based in the western part of the state, and vinegar based in the eastern part. Mustard may be out there, but its not common. Also, many people out of the South have not heard of grits, much less tried them. We should go out and propogate a correct image of grits to the rest of the country, none of this brown sugar mess.

Tarot Grits Station the all grits kitchen, will sweep up the grits under the proverbial rug all across the nation. There are more than 1 zillion ways to prepare grits, and the ten zillionth grit was recently cooked up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.104.192.116 (talk) 09:56, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Polenta

So isn't this just a dialect word for polenta then? Chameleon 14:56, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

-I think grits are actually ground hominy. This is what I've always been told growing up in Oklahoma.

Unsigned comment was not me.

Yes, proper grits are ground hominy, although most of what's sold as grits today are actually polenta. I almost corrected the article, but looking in the revision history it looks like this has been done MANY times before and one particular editor keeps reverting inaccurate texts. I don't feel like an edit war right now. Arker 21:12, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

The USDA recognizes "corn grits" as distinct from "hominy grits". Both are legally grits under US law. 96.11.107.227 (talk) 13:47, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

---

Is that slashdot reference at the end really pertinent to the article? The topic is only tangentially related to the topic, and references a rather minor and childish aspect of a completely unrelated topic. I’m sure there are many wikipedia users that consider slashdot to be the most important website in the history of the universe, but that section just seems painfully out of place to me. --160.39.194.52 03:05, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Yes, and done! Thanks for calling attention to this silliness that has afflicted Wikipedia of late. Pollinator 13:40, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC)

---

It was me ... I had read the Slashdot Trolling Phenomena page, and didn't know what grits actually were. So after I found the page, I linked back to the 'hot grits'. I guess at the time I figured it was a fun fact about an otherwise uninteresting food. I'm happy with your decision to remove it. Cheers guys! Ppe42 08:52, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

---

Whatever one's opinion, the article as it stands is confusing. It says that grits shouldn't be confused with polenta, yet gives no indication of what distinguishes one from the other. And it's not talking about hominy grits, just plain grits versus polenta.

I'd add the clarification myself, but as far as I can tell, there *is* no difference, so how can one help but confuse them?

If there really is no difference, perhaps "grits" should simply redirect to "polenta", and this article be stripped down to be "hominy grits" specific. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.115.221.137 (talk) 18:51, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

G.R.I.T.S.?

This is colloquial? I've never in my life heard anyone use it, outside of one rather poor and off-colour website. Arker 21:09, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

My sister has a G.R.I.T.S. hat, I think it's something like Girls, Inc. -- Darth Katana X

G.R.I.T.S. stands for Girls Raised In The South. It is a franchise started by Deborah Ford who has written several books such as "Puttin' On The GRITS" Georgia Gentleman

So why does "hot grits" redirect here, instead of a disambiguation page?90.96.124.14 (talk) 20:04, 26 May 2016 (UTC)

Grits mill?

"Almost every community in the South had a grits mill until about a generation ago, with families bringing their own corn to be ground, and the miller retaining a portion of the corn for his fee."

Okay, well, first of all, they were grist mills, not grits mills - of that one, I'm 100% certain - I did some work at a restored grist mill as part of a re-enactment community some years ago. Also, not all grist mills sieved their grist into meal and grit. Many were sophisticated enough to have adjustable grindstones - when the stones were set closer together, they produced meal, and when they were spaced, they produced grits (or hominy, depending on who you talk to).

Second, how do we define "generation" here at Wikipedia? Because, unless we're defining "generation" as 50-60 years, then the above statement isn't accurate. The last "community" grist mills closed up shop for regular operation back in the early '50's, and nearly all of them were out of business and out of existence by the early '40's. This is from personal experience, not from any source, so I can't really document it. If anybody has some more definite backing, that would be appreciated.

Reading that way the article's written, it makes those of us from "down here" sound like we're living in a bunch of hayseed little towns that just recently stopped having hitching posts out in front of the General Store where we could buy penny candies and sorghum molasses in bulk rather than in cans, when we've actually been - for the most part - eating "store-bought" grits for three of four generations. I don't disagree with the image that we milled corn - that's accurate. But I'd really like to see some language that reflects an accurate timeline - maybe something like, "Until the early parts of the 20th century, most rural areas in the Southern United States were served by a local grist mill, where local farmers could take their corn crop to ground. The miller would produce the desired 'grist' from the farmer's shelled crop, and retain some portion of the crop in payment." Any disagreement on this change?

-- Lee Greenway, Macon, Georgia (nonregistered user)

I agree with you 100%. And, for the record, we still had a community GRIST meal here as late as 20 years ago. I know, because I took grain there regularly until it shut down.

I think there may even have been a revival since the last of the old-time ones shut down - there's been a real revival of interest in the old ways lately.

At any rate, I'm quite disgusted with this page, but looking at history I see the errors have been corrected many times - and inaccurate texts reverted many times. If you feel like cleaning the thing up, I'm in favour. Perhaps you should register an account and be ready for some attacks, however. Arker 16:36, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

Since this controversy arose, I've talked with two old time millers, who ran mills in this area (SC - the heart of grits country) until they shut down. Also a couple of old farmers who remember taking corn to the mill. They all agreed that it is GRITS mill, not grist. There may be regional variations, but you can't get more southern than here. Pollinator 04:31, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

Actually they are almost universally known as 'Grist Mills'. It might be pronounced 'grits mill' in localities of SC, but its spelled 'Grist', as a grist is the thing which comes out of the mill, be it corn grits, or corn meal, or wheat flour. I live in the heart of Appalachia, and have been all over the south from here to FL and all parts in between and have never seen a restored 'grits mill'.I have seen plenty of 'grist mills'. I have a couple operational grist mills not 10 miles from my house. In certain localities, it might be 'grits mill' because thats all they ever ground was corn, and indeed a certain set of stones on the mill might be setup specifically for 'grits' isntead of meal.

BTW, Hominy grits was a product often considered inferior. The best grits and corn meals (especially in Appalachia), socially, were made of white corn. Yellow corn was animal feed. If you came to school with yellow corn bread, it meant your pappy was either lazy and didn't provide for his family, or an idiot who didn't plant enough eating crop, forcing you to eat animal fodder, and therefore didn't provide for his family. If you came to school with yellow corn bread, you ran behind a tree somewhere with the other kids who had yellow cornbread, or alone if possible, and ate it as quick as possible so as to avoid teasing.

Somewhat of a solution, then, was to 'Hominy' the corn, which which you could do with cheap, yellow corn, thereby stripping off the husk and lightening the kernel, making corn meal that was a step above animal fodder, but still 'socially lacking'. --B.ellis 19:18, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

A Breakfast Food...?

Hello, where's the guide for the real Grits? You know, the band Grits? I see that less popular bands aren't graced by professional articles, or articles at all here, but Grits is a popular band! I suppose I should write it myself. -- Darth Katana X

Grits are popular food in Southern Manchuria

Grits made from corns are popular food in Southern Manchuria where they are called "gezi (geh-zi)".--Manchurian Tiger 18:29, 2 February 2006 (UTC) Yes, you should. --Quasar 15:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Use of Grits in Fiction

We need to start a collection of these, starting with My Cousin Vinny and the instant grits line.--BohicaTwentyTwo 18:24, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Roots, too, with the, "Grits, dummy!" line. -- 12.116.162.162 21:41, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, an 'in (popular) fiction' section should be added. --Safe-Keeper 20:25, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

grits w/ butter,sugar (white), and milk

5-21-06: I moved to Dallas,TX approx 8 mos ago. I went to a small 24hr chain restaurant that has grits as an included side order with pretty much every plate. So, I had grits for the first time in my life (at age 41). I had vaguely heard of grits now and then in my life but had never seen them in a restaurant (i'm from new mexico-by the way new mexico is not part of mexico, it is one of the 50 states of the usa) and although they were on the shelf by the oatmeal and cream of wheat I just never thought of trying them. Well, when the waitress brought them out, since I had seem then by the above mentioned items at the store and had no idea how most people eat them I doctored them up like I do oatmeal of cream of wheat (just a bit of butter [margarine realy], a bit of sugar [white], and a little milk). Well of course it was just like eating a bowl of cream of wheat pretty much as the flavor was dominated by the added ingredients (yes I know one if from corn and the other from wheat). I loved it! I actually went to the store and bought grits for my house! I saw that one person on here stated-I have never put cheese on my cream of wheat. Well, try it, you might like it. I don't think I will ever try grits the way most people eat them as I started the sweet way and that is the only way I think of them, as a sweet/creamy item. By the way, I have found out in the last 8 months that pretty much no one else in the usa knows about/eats green chile like we have in new mexico. It has been a staple of my diet since I was a late teen and was exposed to it. It is really, really hard to find in texas. Everyone here knows about red chile (which is simply the ripened green chile) but not the green. I get the strangest looks when trying to find what was available in every supermarket in NM.

Woah, that makes my eyes hurt just glancing at it! If wikipedia doesn't have a rule against yelling, i think it should.. --Quasar 15:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Feel free to re-edit it, its obvious that the contributor was just trying to make a very sensible point about how they eat grits. Im sure you're eyes will survive. 86.143.216.241 20:13, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Fixed the case.H.E. Hall (talk) 16:52, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Nutritional value?

Anyone have any info on the nutritional value of grits? Particularly the ones sold in supermarkets now, or the homony grits versus the yellow grits?

--Quasar 15:44, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Nutrition Facts from a Quick Grits Container: For serving size = 1/4 cup (37g): calories 130, total fat 0.5 g, Sodium 0 mg, Total Carbohydrate 29 g, Protein 3g -- cheers H.E. Hall (talk) 16:59, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Ronnie Coleman?

What does ronnie coleman have to do with grits?

Nothing. Edits adding Ronnie are vandalism done by sockpuppets of danwat1234. Generally this user makes the same edits over and over again with different accounts - grits, buttocks and Ronnie Coleman are favorite targets. Yankees76 04:30, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Ronnie Coleman likes to have White Hominy grits with 1 to 3 thin slices of cheddar cheese on top and egg whites mixed in.

So?

Grits photograph

The photo with the half-eaten chicken wing is gross. I know this is an encyclopedia, not a restaurant menu, but maybe someone who eats these things could take a prettier pic? heh.

i agree with this. it also doesnt provide a very clear picture of the grits. i've never eaten grits, and i dont know what it is in that picture. Admiralakbar 17:36, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

I didn't realise there was a half eaten chicken wing in the photo. I was too busy trying to work out who eats grits with a waffle and orange slice.Schaddm 03:40, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

I EAT GRITS!!! I think that the current photo looks like Grits soup... I have only seen grits that watery at a restaurant and they were trying to stretch them to serve as many people as possible. Here is a link to what most people eat actually looks like: [2]. I live in Alabama and I never see it that watery. Perhaps we should have a photo like the one I linked to as a secondary photo to go elsewhere in the article. Dreammaker182 18:37, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I will change the photo to this one:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Grits1.jpg Dreammaker182 19:41, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

In popular culture

Mention has to be made at least of my Cousin Vinnie, where Grits are an important part of story, since they in part help innocenting the youths (or "youss"). --WhiteEcho 05:20, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

During the My Cousin Vinny part of the article it states that it is a myth that grits can't be cooked in 5 minutes by referencing a recipe. However, the recipe linked to is for instant grits. Part of the testimony in the scene of My Cousin Vinny is that no self-respecting Southerner would use instant or quick grits. I don't know if the myth part needs to be deleted altogether, or if there needs to be more info on the fact that there are quick, instant, and regular grits. Copeland1013 (talk) 06:00, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

The facts of grits

Grits, 07:00, 3 September 2006, Cribcage, Meals - "Removed {fact}. No reason to single this out when nothing, including the "condiments and preparations" that actually DO claim to be common, are unsourced. Placed {Unreferenced}.)"

I moved the "meals" out into their own section, they were in the list of common things. And I singled out "squirrel" because it was (or rather I strongly consider it) derogatory. But I do agree that the whole thing needs citations. Just gotten a bit numb to it, because many articles I see need citations.

The squirrel article says "…until recently…", I accept that, and something like that phrase should be in the line of this article.--Charles Gaudette 18:41, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Condiments and Preparation

What is this, the postmodernist's guide to grits eating? Peanut Butter? Is this section just a place where anyone who is down to a sack of grits and some syrup in the pantry gets to throw in a bullet item?

Half of these concoctions you wouldn't feed to the pigs.

Is bacon a "condiment" or "preparation"? Neither I would say. A condiment is a sauce or relish or seasoning. Preparation is boiling or steaming or frying. Bacon is more accurately an ingredient or addition. "Crumble some smokey bacon on top." "Serve grits with ketchup that has been applied to a hotdog". Now THOSE are examples of "preparation".

What does this mean: "A variety is attained when other foods are in the grits." Huh? Of course a variety is "attained", you've just added another ingredient. That's what a variety is.

"These are common:" Are you kidding? There wouldn't be five people on the planet who eat apple butter with their grits. You really need to verify all of the people who actually eat ketchup with grits before you could possibly put it on the list of common condiments (at least it is a condiment).

Perhaps this section should be called "Weird Food Combinations Involving Grits Eaten by At Least One Person".

Cheers, Schaddm 04:16, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Condiments and preparations

Continuing the thread above, I think that the pointless section called "Condiments and preparations" should be removed. It is unsourced, and people will add whatever they like to their grits, that doesn't mean we should listify those toppings ad nauseum. (jarbarf) 21:42, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Recipe

I deleted the recipe at the very end. It seems completely extraneous, especially as there is a link to the wiki cookbook site right there.Arbadihist 07:24, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

Grits are not made from plantains

Someone put in a phrase saying that grits could also be made from "fermented plantains", which is obviously incorrect.

Singular versus plural

Someone keeps deleting the instructive paragraph about singuler versus plural, which addresses a question that is frequently asked. What's the problem here? I have restored it.

It looks like it's unsourced personal commentary and isn't encyclopedic. I've removed it as per WP:ATT--Yankees76 20:03, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Well, it isn't either of those things, so I've restored it once again. Please note direct citations to sources Barbara Kafka and Lillian Hellman. And since when was not discussion of pronunciation encyclopedic?

Again - it's personal commentary. "Until recently, "grits" was considered singular" - says who? Southerners, seeing this erroneous usage in print, began assuming that it must be correct, and this usage has spread Who is this statement attributed to? It sounds alot like original research I'm also curious how a microwave cookbook could be considered a reliable source for an entire section on the pronunciation of grits? With regards to using Hellman as a source, Wikipedia is not the place for unpublished analysis or synthesis of published material.

I'd say the information in the entire section can be re-written minus the personal analysis and fit in one sentence that says something like "Grits may properly be used as either singular or plural in writing and speaking and and can be used with a singular or plural verb at the option of the speaker. ^{[3] [4]}. As such I've again removed the paragraph in question until the issue is addressed here. --Yankees76 22:08, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Looks to me like the issue HAS been addressed here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.245.182.75‎ (talk • contribs)

Yes it has - as per WP:CITE, Any material that is challenged and for which no source is provided may be removed by any editor. As such I've removed this material is not being cited by a reliable source and being original research. Edit warring will not get your material included in to the article. I've proposed a solution above. --Yankees76 22:43, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Good gosh... Pants are worn, and grits is eaten? No. Grits are eaten. I certainly count this as plural. --71.207.224.186 (talk) 19:53, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

I don't have a problem with that. However the article is about the dish, and in Wikipedia, a dish is singular.GliderMaven (talk) 20:02, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

If the word really can be both a countable and non-countable noun, then it would be very unusual. This isn't determined by whether its ending appears plural but by the number of the verb used with it. My hunch is that it's treated as a countable plural but without a singular. Would people say: "This grits is good."? They would say "These oats are good." and "This porridge is good." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.189.103.145 (talk) 15:52, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Given that it apparently can be properly either singular or plural, I've made it singular, because that works better with the policies of Wikipedia, which (for good or bad) prefers singular everywhere for pretty much everything. GliderMaven (talk) 19:55, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Kerna/els

I was just about to "correct" kernals to kernels when I wondered: is this an Americanism or a typo? thought I'd better ask rather than provoke yet another anglo-american spellings argument. Totnesmartin (an interloping brit) 13:45, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

You are correct, Totnesmartin--"kernal" was a typo. It's spelled "kernel" here in America as well. Cheers to our friends across the pond! Venku Tur'Mukan (talk) 16:05, 29 September 2011 (UTC)

Official State Food

The source for the "1973 South Carolina adopted grits as its state food" fact is a bill introduced in 2000 that as far as I can tell, never passed. The website for South Carolina: http://www.scstatehouse.net/studentpage/symbols.htm does not mention it either. Though a few other websites do so without sources and with the year 1976. Much more info is available on the fact that in 2002 Georgia adopted grits as its official prepared food.

edit: changed as such

164.62.7.74 14:20, 1 November 2007 (UTC) CBry

Soaked in Lye?

Isn't it true that hominy grits are made by soaking the corn in lye (perhaps to remove the yellow husk, as someone else has mentioned in this comments sections)? I always wondered how they can do that without making the grits poisonous. I looked it up on Wikipedia for an answer and was disappointed to find no explanation. Does anyone know about this lye business?

I think your referring to Nixtamalization. --Arm (talk) 11:02, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

cats

I rmved 2 categories, because the article is already in Soul food, which is a sub-cat of the 2 i removed. Being in the subcat automatically makes an article part of the parent cat.YobMod 16:11, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

additional photos and dishes

I think that we should include additional photos and dishes that include grits. Grits are commonly eaten with other foods much like rice and or whole kernel corn (maize). All of these photos are creative commons. Plain grits, these aren't as watery as the ones in the current picture: [5] Shrimp and grits with a sauce; this is a common restaurant dish:[6] Another alternative to the current photo but with black pepper.:[7] solidified grits, as they cool down, they solidify:[8] Cheese Grits: [9] Cheese Grits Soufflé/casserole:[10] Shrimp with cheese grits, photo has ingredients listed: [11] Calabash Chicken and cheese grits:[12] Fish and Grits:[13]

I would add a gallery, but I don't have the wiki knowlege to do so. Dreammaker182 19:07, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

I just realized that some of the images I included may not be candidates for wikipedia because of restrictions. Dreammaker182 19:11, 20 September 2009 (UTC)

Grits=Middlings

Several things have been left out of this article which can be discovered by very little examination of other websites. Southern grits are the middlings of corn (maize), that is the major portion of the kernel minus most of the bran and the germ. They are separated in the mill using air; the bran is lightest and falls out first, then the middlings, then the germ and heavier portions fall on through to become corn meal. This is not mentioned in the text.

The better grades of corn meal include the middlings. Grits is a very old millers' word for the middlings and was used for all kinds of grain, not just maize. Halfelven (talk) 21:00, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

"Grits are a porridge made from boiled cornmeal. " - This is incomplete, since the product is still called grits, even before it is cooked. (In fact, this package of corn puffs that I have here right now, lists "Maize grits" as the first ingredient.) Drsruli (talk) 00:42, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Hominy Grits

No one grinds grits from hominy which is nixtamalized maize. You can't, it's too soft. Grits are sometimes called hominy grits and here hominy just means maize and also may be used because like hominy, grits have had the bran removed. Halfelven (talk) 21:00, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Wrong. It is possible to get hominy grits in the USA. Just do a google search for "Hominy grits". 96.11.107.227 (talk) 13:46, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

Lost little articles

Some related articles exist - groat (grain), grit (grain), Rødgrød - which are at immediate risk of deletion. Some of their talk page comments might be of interest to editors of this article. Is it appropriate for some of these articles to be merged into this one? Mike Serfas (talk) 17:32, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

Grits

In the Ohio area? Grits are known as Goetta, You go into a Cincinnati Resturant for breakfast? You ask for Grits? You will get Goetta. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.230.238.35 (talk) 13:57, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Etymology

I don't get this etymology from Grütze <- Italian gruzzo. The Italian part is not plausible - Grüze is in fact from the Old High German gruzzi, related to other similar words in other Germanic languages including Old English. And, indeed, the Italian word too is claimed to be from Lombardic, another Germanic language (Vocabulario lo Zingarelli, Milan: Zannichelli, 2011), although given the five centuries between the decline of the unwritten Lombardic language and its first Italian citation, it's quite plausible it might have come from another Germanic dialect.

However, there is no need to derive it from German when it is a perfectly good English word. Grits can be traceable in English back to Old English grytt or grytte and is related to the Norwegian grøt or graut 'porridge' (and indeed OHG gruzzi). Greets is a good dialect spelling, while the spelling had standardized as grits in British literary English by the eighteenth century. In British usage it meant coarsely crushed oatmeal, alongside groats. And as for the dish, the first citation of grits in the OED runs: "Of the greates or grotes ... boyled in water with salt they make a kinde of meate" (T. Cogan, Hauen of Health, 1584), where meat is naturally being used in its older meaning of 'food'. And the association with the dish continues, tho' the dish itself is porridge (or, made with finer oatmeal, gruel) in British usage. Grits has now, I think, disappeared from standard British use (replaced by oatmeal, porridge oats or - in Scottish usage - groats), so we Brits generally tend to think of grits as being a US word now. Still, I think it does survive dialectally here still East of the Atlantic. JESL2 (talk) 08:31, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

The etymology is a bit obscure but the word occurs all over Europe, also in Latvian. So, possibly it is a very old Indoeuropean word. Here are some quotes from several on-line sources:

grit (n.) O.E. greot "sand, dust, earth, gravel," from P.Gmc. *greutan "tiny particles of crushed rock" (cf. O.S. griot, O.Fris. gret, O.N. grjot "rock, stone," Ger. Grieß "grit, sand"), from PIE *ghreu- "rub, grind" (cf. Lith. grudas "corn, kernel," O.C.S. gruda "clod"). Sense of "pluck, spirit" first recorded Amer.Eng. 1808.

gröt, fsv. gröter = isl. grautr, da. grød; av germ. *grauta-; i avljudsförh. till ty. grütze (*grut-) o. gryt (*greut-), till en rot med grundbet. ’krossa el. mala grovt’; se gryt. - Formellt identiskt är nog västgerm. *grauta- (ty. gross, eng. great), egentl, ’grovkornig’ o. dyl.

Die Grütze, plur. inus. grob gemahlnes und von allen Hülsen gereinigtes Getreide. Hafergrütze, Gerstengrütze, Buchweitzengrütze. Ingleichen die daraus gekochte Speise. Figürlich, doch nur in den niedrigen Sprecharten, Gehirn, Verstand. Grütze im Kopfe haben, Verstand besitzen, so wie man von einem dummen Menschen sagt, er habe Spreu oder Häckerling im Kopfe. Ein Kopf der von Natur mehr Spreu, als Grütze führt, Günth. Bey andern hingegen bedeutet Grütze im Kopfe haben, nehmlich statt des Gehirnes, dumm seyn.

Grütze Im Nieders. Grütt, und mit Versetzung der Buchstaben Gorte, im Dän. Grod, im Angels. Grut, im Engl. Grout, im mittlern Lat. Grutum, Grutellum, Gruellum, im Franz. Griotte, Gruau, im Poln. Gruza, Gryzka; alles von dem Zeit=Worte grutan, zermalmen, und folglich mit Pfeil-IconGraus, Pfeil-IconGries u. s. f. aus einer Quelle; s. diese Worter, imgleichen Reissen, und Schroten. In einigen Gegenden, besonders Oderdeutschlandes, ist dieses Wort männliches Geschlechtes, der Grütz. Im Lettischen bedeutet Grudas ein Korn.

greut- English meaning: to press; curds - German meaning: `dr„ngen, zusammendrµcken; Quark = zusammengegangene Milch' - Material: Ir. gruth (*grutus) `geronnene Milch, Quark'; - ags. cr³dan `dr„ngen', engl. to crowd `(sich) dr„ngen', mnl. kruden, mhd. kroten `dr„ngen', ags. crod n. , mhd. krot `Gedr„nge, Bedr„ngnis', mengl. crudes, curdes, nengl. curds `Quark'.

GRUTUM, Leguminis species, alias Granamelum : Anglis Grout, a Saxonico Grut, Far, condimentum cerevisiæ, zea, alica. Liber Rames. sect. 144 : Decem mittas de braseo, et 5. de Gruto, et 5. mittas farinæ triticeæ, etc. les Bénédictins de St. Maur, 1733-1736. Grudum. Contractus anni 1282. et Chartulario Fiscamnensi : Vendidi... undecim quarterios bladi et sex boissellos Grudi ; id est, Hordei ad conficiendam cerevisiam accommodati, ut mox dicetur : qua notione vox Gallica Gru etiam accipitur in Chartulario Gemmeticensi tom. 1. pag. 30 : A raison dequoi les gens du Roy nostre dit Seigneur, ou les ayans cause, prennent audit moulin chacun an cinquante-deux boisselets de moulte, ainsi qu'elle vient, moitié res et moitié combles à la mesure en quoy on reçoit laditte moulte, et une somme de Gru. Grutdum, Eadem notione. Vide in Mina. P. Carpentier, 1766. Grust, in Lit. remiss. ann. 1383. ex Reg. 123. Chartoph. reg. ch. 221. Aliæ ann. 1477. in Reg. 206. ch. 1003 : Le suppliant "(brasseur)" conduisit une charretée de grain ou Gru pour mouldre au molin.

One should recall that the Latin may refer to Medieval Latin, and therefore possibly be influenced by more modern Germanic languages. Still, the word been used for both porridge or watery fine sand mix in many parts of Europe. The similarity probably not coincidental and an ancient origin appears as good as a more recent one, especially for something as 'simple' as porridge which must have been the staple food for millenia. Sorry for the overlength quotes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Preferences (talk • contribs) 08:17, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm going to go ahead and change this. It's an attested word in English going back to Old English, as your source indicates, but you've made the mistake of looking up "grit", rather than "grits". They have the same PIE root, but were separate in OE, "grytt" being the source of "grits" and "greot", as you say, being the source of "grit", meaning sand or gravel. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=grits , http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=grit. As it's an OE word, I don't see how German and French dictionaries add to the discussion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Meesher (talk • contribs) 22:34, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Seminole sofkee

Seminole sofkee is made from rice and not corn. Sofkee redirects to "grits". Any thoughts? Traumatic (talk) 12:14, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Grits

At the very beginning or the article a similarity is drawn between gritts, polenta and "farina". I believe this word should be spelled "farinata". Farina in Italian is simply flour, while farinata is a large backed sort of pancake made with garbanzo beens flour.

Friendly

Roberto Ballabeni

It probably means farina in the American sense, a hot cereal made of wheat. Drsruli (talk) 00:43, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Grits

At the very beginning or the article a similarity is drawn between gritts, polenta and "farina". I believe this word should be spelled "farinata". Farina in Italian is simply flour, while farinata is a large backed sort of pancake made with garbanzo beens flour.

Friendly

Roberto Ballabeni — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.226.247.12 (talk) 08:45, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

It probably means farina in the American sense, a hot cereal made of wheat. Drsruli (talk) 00:44, 21 June 2022 (UTC)

Yankees

Only go't damn Yankees put milk in their grits. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.25.108.48 (talk) 10:04, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

You can probably blame the US Army for that. My first experience with grits came in basic training in 1984, I thought it was cream of wheat, and it ate it with Sugar and Butter, like I had Cream of Wheat. I also know nearly every other recruit with me from the north thought it was Cream of Wheat. All the guys from the South thought that this was how "gotdamn Yankees" ate their grits. It was two years and a continent later 16:06, 30 June 2013 (UTC)16:06, 30 June 2013 (UTC)~~I actually watch someone from the South put their eggs and bacon, along with butter, salt, pepper and hot sauce on their "Cream of Wheat" and asked if that is how they ate it in East Texas. He said no, it was how they ate grits in East Texas. Lesson learned, and they do taste better with Bacon eggs and pepper than with sugar and butter. I have eaten more grits in the last 29 years than cream of wheat. My dad told me that the same thing happened with him in the Army 20 years earlier. 16:06, 30 June 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.241.120.20 (talk)

sorry but this article is too favorable to grits

many nutrition sites are reporting that grits have near-zero nutritional value, and worse they are prepared with very high-fat mixes. i'm not attacking the product, just saying what is out there - example:

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/7-foods-nutritionist-would-never-eat?page=7 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.184.252.247 (talk) 06:19, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

"Another hyper-refined carbohydrate, grits are the small leftover pieces from corn processing. Nutritionally speaking, grits lack significant amounts of vitamins or minerals. They contain a minute amount of fiber and no essential fats. Their flavor is lacking and thus butter or heavy cream is used to make them palatable, bringing together the blood-vessel-destroying, unholy marriage of simple carbohydrates and saturated fat." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.184.252.247 (talk) 06:22, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

There is an old saying in the Deep South referring obliquely to the lack of food value in grits: Grits ain't groceries, i.e., food to fill the belly, & little more.