Still, cooking columns and magazines are always coming up with ways to make "grits" exciting: "Add cheddar cheese and jalapenos, bake and cut into tasty squares. No wonder people don't like them! They are a kind of hominy mucilage with neither flavor nor texture. Grits don't keep well in a steam table, so what most travelers experience is the instant variety.Īs with cheap anchovies, an inferior product called Albers Quick Grits (with the convenience of cooking in just five minutes) has contaminated several generations. Along with buttermilk and salt-cured ham, they are fodder for Southern vacation anecdotes. Sometime in the early 20th century they developed a reputation of being white-trash cuisine. But hominy grits are one of the great American foods. You can actually taste the texture and delicate flavor! We've had them in Caesar salad, on pizza and on focaccia.Īnother common dislike is grits. Instead, hold out for really good Sicilian anchovies, usually jarred, like Agostino Recca. But that isn't practical for most people. True, they have one useful culinary function: They can be minced or processed and used as a kind of fish flavoring or anchovy paste, in place of salt. Only the most salt-obsessive souls thrive on those overcooked brackish little fish corpses that come in elongated tin coffins. Thus, the first topic in this second column on "secrets" is Things You Think You Don't Like But Haven't Really Tried. We are not helped by the fact that American supermarkets are seldom the place to find the highest quality ingredients. Later, exposed to sophisticated Mediterranean preparations like moussaka and eggplant parmesan, I changed my mind. It tasted bitter and had a watery cellulose texture. In my case, eggplant: Mama always sliced it thick, floured and fried it. More often, bad cooking turns us against an ingredient. Sorry, I have no such exemption for limas. A l dente baby okra in jambalaya is delicious. But often those early traumas can be overcome by new environments. As a Southern boy, I despised okra and lima beans for their texture - slimy on the one hand, chalky on the other. Many of our dislikes come from unpleasant first experiences. A half century ago, I watched with envy as patrons of the Grand Central Oyster Bar indulged in what looked like having sex in public it would be decades later that I enjoyed my first oyster, and years more before I fell in love with our local Kumamotos. I have food prejudices like most people, but I have always felt uncomfortable with them.
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