Holy hell...

I FOUND GRITS IN LOS ANGELES!!!



Ok, so I found them at a health food store called Follow Your Heart (locals refer to this place as Follow Your Wallet. I will do a cost comparison to see if it is cheaper than Whole Paychecks, er Foods). This was 2 bucks and change for 2 pounds, and is from Bob's Red Mill. There was another box from Arrowhead Mills that cost about twice as much, and I couldn't see the grain. I think that one is yellow corn, too.

It's not quite what I'd like it to be, though. For starters, it's labeled as "Corn Grits also known as Polenta". *sigh*

All right, twits. Yes, it's the same grain. Yes, it's a similar grind. HOWEVER: grits are usually white corn, and polenta is most often yellow. I cannot remember EVER eating yellow grits in my whole Southern life. That's not to say it can't be done, or shouldn't. But polenta can also be made from chestnuts or buckwheat. Not so much for the grits. I will allow that the colors of the corn can be different, but the preparation of the corn before grinding is entirely different. The hulls are first removed. Read on!

I found a lovely descriptor of the differences here:

What's the difference between polenta and grits? Grits are made from ground, dried white or yellow corn kernels from which the hull of the corn is removed by an alkali, such as slaked lime or lye.

Grits, or hominy grits, a specialty of the South, are prepared much like polenta, seasoned with butter, salt and pepper or cooled to a firm consistency, sliced and fried. Whole, dried hominy is known as posole in Mexico; when it is ground into flour, it is masa harina.

Well that's pretty damn clear to me that what you've sold me is not Grits, but Corn Polenta or Very Coarse Corn Meal. They are NOT one and the same! You can make grits using polenta corn, but it is less nutritionally valuable (the liming or lyeing step completes the corn proteins, and makes the nutrients digestible by humans), and harder to do. Not that I won't try, of course, but don't call it grits! That's a sin.

But I'm gonna make grits with this anyway. To hell with the nutrition. I want some grits!!

What this does tell me is that I might be able to make grits if I search the local Latino markets and find some posole... Ah, yet another challenge!