John's GRITS Philosophy

I have a considerable amount of reverence towards GRITS. GRITS are a simple, humble thing.

Cooking and eating GRITS always reminds me of how connected I am to Earth.

GRITS are not pretty like an apple, or tasty like a grilled piece of meat; they are just basic food.

Each time I fix GRITS I think of people that may have relied on this basic food for survival, and wonder if people rely on GRITS still.

Cooking GRITS to eat for survival is one thing, cooking them to become an Epicurean delight is another thing all together. GRITS does not volunteer to be good eating.

GRITS have potential and need to coaxed into being worth eating.

Each time that I cook GRITS, I anticipate having "better" GRITS than I had last time. This seems strange to me. Was my last batch of GRITS that bad? Can I really expect to cook really good GRITS?

IT IS A CHALLENGE.

I have been cooking GRITS for 40 years or so, and I cook GRITS about every other weekend. Do the math, that's approaching 1000 pots of GRITS. Sheesh.

Nevertheless, I am still looking for better ways of cooking GRITS.

As I cook GRITS, I pay attention to the GRITS and what I am doing. The transformation from box/bag to plate is truly remarkable.

There are other foodstuffs that are similar in nature to GRITS, like rice, oatmeal and farina; but GRITS holds a special place in my cupboard. (I also like to eat cooked farina, but I am not proud of it. The farina box stays in the back of the cupboard.)

Do you get excited on Friday night when you decide to cook GRITS for breakfast on Saturday? I do.

When I was a kid, my parents had to teach me how to cook GRITS so I could get up on Saturday morning and fix my GRITS.

 

Last revised: 4-28-97

Please be kind to