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"G" is for Grits

South Carolina From A to Z
SC Public Radio

"G" is for Grits. Grits is (or are) the coarse-to-fine ground product of a milling process whereby the hull of the dried corn kernel is popped open and the fleshy part is milled into tiny particles. Mill stones carved with grooves radiating outward from the center were set by the miller to grind the dried corn into course, medium, and fine grits as well as corn meal. Purists avow that today’s steel-roller grits don’t taste the same. Grits, like rice, is a base for other foods and flavorings. Favorite complements in South Carolina are red eye gravy and sausage and sawmill gravy---and shrimp, country ham, fried fish and quail as favorite “grits and…” dishes. Hominy is the Native American word for dried corn and is the name for what we came to call grits.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.