I find myself fascinated with a lot of things nowadays, everything from new technological developments to political shenanigans to words and foods.
My fascination with technology leads me to dream of the future and what life will be like, my review of politics makes me wonder if there will be a future to worry about! But those are topics for another day.
My fascinations with words and foods are the same: where did they come from and what led to their creation. It is often easy to find the origin of words by consulting a dictionary or a book on etymology, the study of word origins. Words can be traced to their origins and the changes that have taken place over the years can be followed. Many times the source of foods can be found with a quick google search. Sometimes I find these sources less than reliable.
Albert Broccoli was a movie producer who died in 1998 or 2002 depending of the source (see I told you sources weren't always reliable,) and is noted for producing several of the James Bond movies. I remember reading of his death in the newspaper where the story told that his family was noted for food engineering and creating what we now know as broccoli by crossing cauliflower with spinach! This was the Mobile Press so I shouldn't have believed it in first place but I did. Subsequently I learned that this story was not true although I have to admit it is a good story!
I often wondered about who ever thought to cover raisins with yogurt! I love the combination but I was distressed to think that someone actually sat down and tried it! Someone has too much time on his hands!
Several years ago, a television commercial tried to explain how Reeses came up with the idea of covering peanut butter, a nectar of the gods in my opinion, with chocolate. They illustrated the possibility that one person was walking eating a piece of chocolate bumping into a person eating from a jar of peanut butter with the chocolate ending up in the peanut butter. It's feasible but I don't recall ever seeing anyone walking down the street eating from a jar of peanut butter. I've been tempted to before but...
Which brings me to grits. Who decided that taking corn, grinding it then cooking it in a pan of boiling water, then slathering butter into it or simply mixing it with eggs was a proper way to enjoy corn?? This person deserves a national holiday set aside in his or her honor! Something like Saint Bubba's Day!
Grits, the name which the dictionary says can be either singular or plural so don't wonder about my choice of the verb here, is the official dish of the State of Georgia! A bill introduced into the legislature of South Carolina honoring the dish stated that if more people ate grits we would have a better chance for peace on earth! I think they're on to something!
I grew up with grits at breakfast, learning that the proper way to enjoy them was to add eggs, sunny-side up, and stir them together. I have since learned that grits can be fully enjoyed by itself or as a part of wonderful dishes such as Shrimp and Grits, one of my very favorites. In fact, I am in a never-ending search for the perfect Shrimp and Grits dish.
Wikipedia says grits originated with the Native Americans and was adopted by early Americans, primarily in the southeast. Maybe, but I like this explanation better:
On the eighth day, He arose from His rest and called to the Man and the Woman.
"Go to the southeastern part of the garden. There you will find a plant that grows tall, its tassels reaching toward the sky. Take the fruit of this plant, which you shall call corn, and grind the seeds between two large stones. Then you shall cook the finely ground corn and enjoy it with other fine things from the gardens and from the seas. This shall be called grits and is my special gift to my people."
The Man and the Woman went forth and did as He had instructed.
We Southerners are religious about our grits so it's not too farfetched!
