I was born in the South, and I feel privileged to have eaten some of the best home-cooked southern food on earth. I know cooks that can bake a batch of biscuits that come out perfectly every time and never, ever, use a measuring spoon or cup, much less a cookbook, in their kitchens.
Of course, as I got older, I began to understand that any food whose primary ingredients were white (all purpose) flour and Crisco® (lard), were not exactly heart-healthy. The American Heart Association is quite clear about this, never mind that my granny lived to be 88 years of age, was hardly sick a day in her life and died peacefully in her sleep. So, gradually I began to wean myself off the worst of those southern food staples that I had been raised on.
Switching to soymilk was tough, but I got used to it. Brown rice really is not that different from white rice. You can use old bread for making croutons, even if you know it would taste a whole lot better as bread pudding. These are the sorts of food sacrifices I have managed to accomplish and still retain a little of my Southern dignity.
One thing I absolutely refuse to do is give up my grits. (Thank goodness no one has bothered to package whole grain grits or organic grits!) Grits are corn. Corn is good for you. Actually, I am not sure what the Heart Association’s stance is on grits, but I think I have a pretty good idea. After all, the Association is headquartered in the deep south in Dallas, Texas. You cannot tell me that they do not eat grits in Dallas, Texas! I refuse to believe it.
Of course, my husband will point out that, even if the grits aren’t bad for you, what you put on them can be. I do recall one horrifying visit to a local restaurant frequented by visitors from “up north” when I actually saw a man putting SYRUP on his GRITS! I almost threw up. Still, I have to admit that all of that salt and the butter that I find necessary to add a little flavor to my grits might not be the best sort of food to complement this Southern diet staple. Of course, we Southerners put everything from fried okra to chopped-up green tomatoes in our grits. Grits go great with fish, too and fish is a heart-healthy food… unless you fry it.
All right. Maybe our kind of food here in the South is not the healthiest it could be. It might have a bit too much of the bad stuff and not enough of the good, but it can beat the starch of the competition for tasting good. So, before you swear off Southern food, stop and consider the alternative. A little fried chicken now and then is not going to clog all of your arteries at once. Just make sure you don’t eat it every day. Remember, you don’t want to end up like my Granny. Or do you?
Labels: Southern Cooking Tips