European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 15, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Grits Star in Nouvelle Southern cuisine by Liz Logan new York times or a foodstuff whose essential trait is blandness. G in Are or is that will be soiled out later the source of remarkably Peppery controversy. The Humble Cereal. Consisting of coarsely ground dried hulled com kernels has a Long history of inspiring both testimony and involve a slate of old fashioned Southern cooking grits Are currently a favored Ingre Lenl of Nouvelle Southern cuisine. They Are also being rediscovered North of the Mason Dixon line by patrons of such restaurants As Manhattan s Acme bar and Grill and san Francisco a Samantha s out before addressing the gastronomic issues the grammatical Onos must be dealt Wilh. Grits Are plural according to most dictionaries and most literature on the subject follows suit. However some up uhf men will practically re enact the Battle of Bull run Over the singularity of grits and related figures of speech such As sure As grits is groceries11 invariably use the singular. Such Ynte tical squabbles Are nothing though compared with the debates that Fage about grits culinary merits although widely regarded As a classically Southern dish even in Dixie plenty of gastronome agree Wilh James Beard s assessment of grits As rather residing  although Philip Delaplane chel Al the trellis in Williamsburg a diploma locally refuses to enter the fray he exhibits Little enthusiasm Lor grits. We like to use tradition a Southern  do Latane said but Thoro Aie some we shy away from and grits fall into that  most disparages Are less tactful some go so far Aslo claim i a i girls got the name because that is what people do Wilh i hair Teeth Belore tackling the stuff. Adeaby. The word comes from the old English grrr meaning bran. The very its grits haters decry the Bland taste and Loren Mccaus conus Lency Are those that inspire the Devotion of Gril a defenders. Girls lovers assert that the badness 11 irks grits a perfect foil Lor other flavors. As for texture Alliey concede that the scylla and Charybdis of badly prepared a brits arc water Ness on the one extreme and dry lumpiness on the other. The perils of grits gone Bat Are so much a part of Southern culture that there is the and acc watery grits goes with Sleazy  there is also a song by belly Wright and Jerome Moray. Brick gals addressing the Issue of dry girls. Some Overly fervent grits supporters say indians offered gals to the Jamestown va., settlers in 1607, making the snowy Cereal he country s first food. More levelheaded historians specify that the settlers got what the indians called Rockach Olnie the Al tend kernels Olcorn that were the precursor of Hominy. It was not until later that people began grinding Hominy into girls. Roy Blount jr., humorist and grits proponent favors Quick girls. Which Are ground finer than regular girls and hence take Only 5 to 10 minutes to Cook As opposed to Kail an hour or so for regular. However he avoids instant grits which Are precooked and dried again Lor packaging. Grits is grits said Blount. There s not a whole lot of Range to them. But instant grits Are  Nathalie Dupree director of the cooking school Al Rich s department store in Atlanta observed the Best grits i be Ever found Are speckled heart grits irom Callaway gardens a. But it s hard to keep All different kinds of girls on hand and i really like Quick grits. Even though in my heart 1 know there must be a difference. I m no sure i could Tell the difference blindfolded end the truth is that quake whose Quaker and aunt Jemima girls Are the Only nationally distributed brands suits me just  at a Leader of the new Southern cooking movement Dupree Falls into the category of bom again grits believer. She crusades to grits in meals other than breakfast while traditionalists Are Content to eat their Al breakfast with no More embellish men than Salt Pepper and butter Dupree has developed such lunch and dinnertime variations As grits with Parmesan cheese. Frank still 3d, proprietor of lha Highlands a bar 4 Grill in Birmingham Ala Bays i lend to look at the Way polenta has been used in Italy and implement the recipes with a Southern twist. For a Side dish we Cook grits in Chicken Slock end Ihen bake them in Small  Duvall proprietor of the Riu cafe in los Angeles and Samantha s in san Francisco also brings up the polenta analogy at Samantha a we serve cheese grits Wilh grilled an Douille sausage for lunch and dinner he said. Sometimes customers Are leery of the idea but we us tall them in s like polenta and they  rtt with Pam Wun or am from new Southern cooking Wilh Nathalie  Irena Chalmers cookbooks 1986 it cup uncooked Quick grits 2 cup heavy Cream 2 to 3 Tablespoons butter Salt to taste freshly ground White Pepper i cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 1. Place grits and Cream in a heavy Saucepan stirring. Cover bring to a Boll and Cook Lor 5 minutes stirring occasionally being careful not Coburn. 2. Remove from heat Tesla. Add butter Salt and Pepper then stir in cheese. 3. This dish May be made ahead and revealed Over Low heat or in a microwave oven. Alekma Ervings. Zucchini gift Cambi 1 a cups water a cup uncooked Quick grits sail to taste1 i cups shredded Zucchini about 2 medium Zucchini 2 eggs beaten sour Cream. Aftissks4 of 1. Bring water to a boil. Slowly stir in girls and sail. Reduce heat simmer 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened stirring frequently. Remove from heat. 2. Drain excess moisture from shredded Zucchini. Stir Zucchini and eggs into grits. 3. Heat griddle or Large Skillet Over medium High heat and grease tightly. Pour it cup Bailer for each cake onto griddle or Skillet. Cook 3 to 4 minutes per Side or until browned. Serve warm Wilh sour Cream. Yield approximately 12 pancakes. Southern . Cooking White trash style Bojoh Swenson United press International Ernest Matthew Mickler has written Cookbook for lovers of Mayonnaise  and  trash cooking unlike other food fad books tells you it s of to play Ball with or. Cholesterol. The trim Dapper 46-year-old Mickler does t look like someone who least on smothered potatoes creamed English peas Moch cooler soup fruited pork ettes slum gut Ion roast Possum Rabbit pie chocolate dump cake plump s Pun Ken pie and hush puppies. Not Only does Mickler eat these and other Southern delicacies he claims they re Good for you. I be got Lour great aunts in their late 90s still alive says Mickler so 1 Don t think food is Gonna kill you. I think it s in your genes. You May be Able to add live or 10 years to your life by strict dieting but other than that if you re Gonna die you re Gonna  White trash cooking la quite literally a work of love. We i i was a kid my Mother used to Cook up things Tor people in  said Mickler. Some of those recipes made ii into the Book. Though Mickler has been collecting recipes Lor the Book for 15 years in a Way he s been researching in All la life. Uncle Charlie s co bread for example a a recipe from Mickler s childhood in Palm Valley Fla Uncle Charlie was the mailman when i was a kid said Mickler. He s dead now a lot of the people who contributed recipes Are dead now. Everybody 1 Mel i would ask for a recipe and then i pooled my own memories everything that i had Ever eaten done knew characters that i knew from my childhood. In a Small area people get known Lor their recipes and their ability to Cook certain things. Everybody always talked about Uncle Charlie s co bread. If you were going to a gathering nobody would dare bring co bread h they knew undo Chari a was coming. If Irma Lee baked the beat chocolate dump cake nobody would bring chocolate  Mickler takes great pains loue the recipes to a lifestyle that he sees As rapidly disappearing. He included photos taken during research trips around the Southeast to add local color. It s difficult to find people i photographed Only five years ago he said. I Don t know where the cover girl is. I found her Silling on the Side of the Road in Alabama. Maybe Shell surface at some Point. Some of the old houses Are still there but the people who Are living that. Lifestyle Are hard to find. Its kind of haunting Mickler added because you la look into some of the pantries and see jars of peas and Beans and canned things that Are three or four years old. The people say they just Don t care about Canning anymore. The Freezer has stopped a lot of Canning too they just put stuff in a bag with a Little preservative Vitamin c and sugar Sprinkle it on and put in in the  the Book True has been controversial Ever since the maw yorker Magazine refused to run an and for it Bill Mickler maintained that the term has nothing to do with racism. The southerners who know most about it Aren t offended he said. A s an affectionate term. It s something we tease each other with. There s a derogatory Side of it but i Felt that i took something unpleasant and made something pleasant out of it. One of my aunts is real country and they live out in the Slicks on practically nothing they re not poor it s the lifestyle they choose to live. I asked aunt Ewy what she thought of the Book title she said that s what they Call us Ain t it the people who went through the depression when a lot of these recipes originated really love the Book i wanted it to be As humorous As i could get it without poking fun and the intent was taken Well i can laugh at myself and so can the1 people who this Book was written about they Are absolutely rolling in the aisles and thai is a great Joy to  Mickler suggested that people who think he s making fun of Hia subject matter Are probably projecting their own feelings. I have no control Over what people do Wilh heir  he said. If people Are making fun of the ofes Tyte portrayed in this Book they re Foda. In Washington someone told me that one Al the Chic thing to do no la to have a while trash dinner party. I Don t mind that because i think thai 99 percent cd the people have a tetto of Thia in their  Page 16 the stars and stripes saturday november 15,1986