One weekend I had a hankerin' for grits. And not just your garden variety grits (yes, y'all non-southerners, there are huge grit gardens all over the south) I wanted a good ole grits casserole with some of that fancy party plate kind of cheese. So I set out to the local grocery establishment in search of some grits.
A Piggly Wiggly was nowhere to be found so I had to make do with a Safeway grocery store. After an exhaustive search, instant grits were the only thing I could find. I don't know which city in New York birthed the inventor of this product, but I do know he has never been to the south. Grits bear no resemblance to those freeze-dried things in a package.
My next attempt was to try the nearest Whole Foods Store. I figured they carried foods from foreign countries, so maybe they would think grits were exotic. I looked high and low and couldn’t find them. It’s then that I discovered a large bin labeled polenta. They sure did look a lot like my favorite yellow grits. I asked the nearest attendant about the ground corn particles in the bin and he informed me that they were polenta, NOT grits. I thanked him and bought a pound of the so-called polenta and proceeded to prepare a large pot of yellow grits. Oh happy day. I just might be able to survive another month or two here.
But don’t tell these people out here who think they are eating a fancy Italian gourmet food called “polenta” that they are actually eating good ole grits, which are at least a day old and fried in butter.