Grits

July 30, 2018
Nashville food writer Murray (Shucked) brings depth and flavor to the background of this quintessential Southern dish. She notes that tracing the history of grits, as with many other Southern dishes, “will uncover stories of theft, slavery, appropriation, and loss.” She describes grits as cheap and simple nourishment during the Civil War years, when “people in every class were eating grits—and enslaved Africans were usually the ones preparing them.” Murray then brings the story to the 20th century, when the “mass-produced, flavorless” corn porridge goop of the postwar years was revitalized by “true grit-slingers” such as Glenn Roberts, who developed heirloom grit varieties, and Delta Grind, a Mississippi grit-grinding operation now run by a 26-year-old woman named Julia Tatum, who worked at a marketing firm during the day, but milled at night until her business took off. Murray anchors much of the book around vivid portraits of these scrappy entrepreneurs, and includes grit-based recipes throughout, including creamy grits, black skillet corn bread, and scrapple. By the 1990s, Murray writes, grits started showing up on menus served with high-end ingredients, “due to the reinterpretation of the dish by a handful of affluent, white, male chefs.” Murray’s enlightening culinary tour will be of great interest to foodies and students of Southern history and culture.

October 1, 2018
Murray adds to the popular and growing genre of food microhistories with this tome on the development, varieties, manufacturing, preparation, and nuanced social and political implications of grits. Whether the word grits makes readers think of the watery corn gruel fed to enslaved people on American plantations, or evokes warm memories of the ultimate southern breakfast comfort food, or brings to mind the media stories about President Jimmy Carter, presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, or even the alleged feud between rapper Ray J and country singer Naomi Judd, grits do tend to provoke reactions. Individuals who have experienced undercooked, paste-like white lumps and think they've eaten grits have been done a disservice, as the occasional recipes included here, ranging from sweet and creamy to jalapeno-infused all the way up to a gruyere and wild-mushroom variety, prove. Murray (Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm?, 2011) offers brief, well-documented chapters interspersed with breezy anecdotes, featuring such unexpected grit-loving luminaries as food critic Craig Claiborne. Serious foodies will enjoy this culinary romp about a southern cooking staple.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)