Corn Grits / Polenta for Breakfast in Canada?
22 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: bob's red mill, breakfast, Canada, cooking, donald's market, grits, polenta, Vancouver, vegan, vegetarian
So occasionally I hear about GRITS, and occasionally I hear about POLENTA. It never occured to me that they could be almost the same thing. Either way, being who I am, neither growing up in either the American South, nor having an Italian grandmother to show me what it’s all about, I had never tried to make my own grits until today.
This is the brand I bought from Donald’s Market in New Westminster Quay’s River Market: Bob’s Red Mill Corn Grits / Polenta:
http://www.bobsredmill.com/corn-grits_polenta.html
The only other place I’ve ever had grits is at Denny’s Restaurants. They just don’t sell anything labeled “GRITS” in Vancouver at grocery stores. It’s like grits don’t exist here in Canada. Nobody I know eats grits around here. It’s just not done.
Anyway, I was pretty excited to find a package labeled GRITS/POLENTA at Donald’s Market. The contents look like really coarse cornmeal, but still finer than bulghur wheat. The contents are yellow. This confused me, as Denny’s grits are white. I read the reviews on the Bob’s Red Mill site, and apparently lots of people are used to white grits too, but they’re white only because they’re made from bleached corn. So I guess Bob’s corn is not bleached.
Today’s Breakfast Grits:
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup grits
- 1/2 tsp salt
- soy milk
Bring water and salt to a boil. Add grits and simmer 5 minutes. That’s it! The recipe makes 4 portions.
Um, DELICIOUS!
It’s like porridge – different than oatmeal and WAY better than cream of wheat, because it’s got a really nice texture – gritty (but not sandy) and a little bit gelatinous or something. I can see why they like this stuff so much in the south. I added more salt and a bit of soy milk in my bowl to taste. Apparently it’s good sweet or salty, or fried or with cheese or any number of other variations. Apparently people often add lots of heavy cream and butter to grits too but hey without it they wouldn’t be so fat, so cut it out. Still super tasty.
My caucasian Canadian husband says he’s never had grits either, so it’s probably not that I grew up all ethnic and slant eyed and oblivious to local cultures and customs (*pfffttttyouracistyou!!!*), never having tasted a grit except at Denny’s…
So…grits in Canada? YEAH. BRING IT ON. 
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