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You introduced us to McDonalds, Weeble ... that's quite enough to earn our undying admiration for your cuisine!

... or something...

low blow

McDonald's - America's answer to haggis

Is that Italy's version of McDonalds? Definitely a step up.

In England, I suppose you might find grits marketed as ground maize or something in health food shops.

Well, I checked out the Foreign Foods shelves when I went shopping on Friday and there certainly weren't any 'grits' on it. And all I got from the staff when I described them were some extremely odd looks!

In the unlikely event that I see the inside of a health food shop any time soon, I'll take a peek there - thanks for the tip, Alelou!

Grits are similar to polenta. Polenta is probably much easier to find anywhere other than the Southeastern U.S.

Similar, but polenta is like buying already-cooked grits that have congealed into a mass that you then slice and cook. (Hmm, that sounds good. I must be hungry!) I'm thinking polenta starts with a much finer grain, too, more like cornmeal than grits. I might be wrong, though.

Maize just isn't a very British food, in my experience, though my experience is way out of date at this point. (Thankfully, the food in the UK has gotten A LOT better, judging from my last visit, though the British idea of a hamburger is still pretty appalling. Still more like a sausage burger. I told my son it wasn't going to be what he expected, and I was right.)

Polenta Concia



Polenta Taragna

Asso just stop it! Absolutely unfair competition. Although I will take cow (aka beef) from the farms around here anytime. I have some wonderful cuts down in the freezer....maybe tomorrow

Here's a link with grits info, pictures, and cooking directions. Also, it's called "serendipitous grits" and what could be better than that?

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell- ... ous-grits/

Grits are nixtamalized (isn't that a great word?) which is where you soak the corn in lime (the mineral kind, not the green fruit kind) and it breaks down some of the proteins. That gives you hominy and then you can dry and grind the corn up into flour. If you add some water to the flour, you get masa and you can make tortillas (that's corn tortillas - flour tortillas are made from wheat and need some shortening).

Cornbread and polenta are made from plain ground corn that hasn't been treated with lime.

So, grits are basically tortilla dough with extra water.

Except that it's in the form of little, um, grits.

I'll never forget the awful father in The Secret Life of Bees who would punish his daughter by making her kneel in raw grits.

Now you guys have me jonesing for a tamale.