An American English dictionary indicates that polenta is of Italian origin and was a much made from cornmeal.
Generic hominy is a product of dry milling in which the husk, the outer hard layer is separated from the inner softer starchy layers which are then sometimes boiled. In the American South, however, the husk was removed by soaking kernels of corn in lye-water (sodium hydroxide). After the husk was removed, the kernels of corn, swollen in size, would be boiled.
Hominy grits are a product of dry milling that progresses beyond the removal of the husk. The grits are then boiled to be eaten as a soft cereal. Usually, in the American South, they were "back in the days" flavored with bacon or fatback drippings and pepper and salt. Today, they are sometimes still flavored with drippings; but usually with butter or oleomargarine.
May I throw in a little anecdote. Early in the existence of the Presbyterian Church in America, it was invited by several of its sister Reformed denominations to hold its annual national assembly concurrently at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To accomodate the Southerners (the PCA being primaily a denomination found then in the American South) the dining commons offered grits on the breakfast menu. I don't know how long it was prepared; but the product did not come out quite to the Southerners taste. A few years later, a second concurrent assembly was held. The editor and publisher of the Presbyterian Journal, the Reverend Dr. G. Aiken Taylor, offered to teach the cook staff at Calvin how to prepare grits Southern style and even brought sufficient grits from North Carolina with him to supply the commissioners for a week of meetings. These were much better received. In the American South, in restaurants serving family style meals, grits is (are) as ubiquitous as potatoes, although generally limited to breakfast meals.
Last edited by PastorVon; 04/06/09 12:12 AM. Reason: typos
