Hominy grits are made from hominy, oddly enough - field corn which is removed from the cob, soaked in a mixture of lye and water to remove the skin from the kernel, rinsed thoroughly, then dried.>>>>>

*Opens the book at H and prepares to write the longest entry yet*

Just as a note to you horrified Brits (CW among them) not all Americans enjoy grits of any type! It's mostly a southern thing. I grew up in Michigan and can't stand the stuff. My husband, however (grew up in Florida) likes them with butter, salt, cheese, and a slab of fried catfish on them, and a fried egg on top of that.

Talk about a heart attack!

" soaked in a mixture of lye and water "

Isn't lye caustic soda? Great for unblocking drains.....

You eat this?

yeah, hominy. it was a type-o, see?

my mom loves grits (and we are northerners), i don't but on occasion can enjoy them with sugar, butter and condensed milk, or with butter and scrambled eggs.

once had them as an appetizer with sauteed seafood - scrumptious!

a lot of southern culture came north with the great migration of black americans in the 20th century. imho this is the source of the stereotype that black people love to eat chicken. (who doesn't love chicken?!) it's a *southern* thing that we carried with us upon migrating north and west. it's frickin' obvious.

Yes <i>some</i> people outside the south eat grits :&amp; -but about one restaurant in 100 in the north or western US offers grits - while about 99 out of a hundred in the south do.

Isn't lye caustic soda? Great for unblocking drains.....

It must keep them amazingly regular

There's nothing wrong with grits, done properly. There are plenty of European dishes that seem just as odd to those that haven't had them prepared correctly.

One of my favorite dishes from a Philadelphia restaurant was a spicy baked dish of grits, rock shrimp (how I miss them!), cheese and a few other ingredients. Delicious.

Americans are used to chemicals. Didn't you read in the European press this week that the EU is again going to authorize the importation of American poultry after a ten year ban? The only condition that was levied was that it must be clearly marked that American poultry is disinfected in chlorine bleach.

This was too funny!!!

*Opens book at D, writes &quot;drain cleaner - they eat it&quot;*

I was on a business trip to Alabama and was having a social chat with a client over lunch.

The subject of her family came up.

&quot;They grow chickens&quot;
&quot;Surely you mean they breed chickens?&quot;
&quot;Nope, they grow chickens&quot;
&quot;Not rear chickens?&quot;
&quot;They grow 'em&quot;

I came away with a mental image of her family digging up 20 pound steroid and hormone fed, prebasted six legged, eight winged beasties with no bones or feathers.

Okay CW, this I'm finding humorous!

Although I'm not sure kidneys are exactly haute cuisine. Or baked beans for breakfast. Or chips sandwiches.

Along the same lines, JR, I increasingly notice the use of &quot;harvest&quot; to refer to the slaughter of animals. Do they use this word in this manner in the UK?

CW: I'd buy your book but I'm afraid it would be banned before being published.

You're one funny man.

Although I'm not sure kidneys are exactly haute cuisine. Or baked beans for breakfast. Or chips sandwiches.&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

Now you have hit one of my soapbox subjects....stand back.

Yanks mock our food because they can understand what it is and we don't give it poncy names (we call a bloody toasted cheese sarnie just that - not a &quot;croque madame&quot;).

If the frogs served the same stuff you'd be in paroxysms of snobbish pleasue about them and the forums would be full of threads like &quot;where to get the best haricots rostis in the 5th Arrondisiment&quot; Or the &quot;the best tournados rossini in paris?&quot;

Witness the fuss over French onion soup, which is in all honesty Bovril with cheese on toast floating on it. If it were british you'd sneer at it but becuse it's served by a grumpy man in a stripy jumper, chain smoking evil smelling fags you get all rhapsodous about it.

I would like to intertest all such Americans in my fine range of clothing and apparel. Worn only once by the Emperor himself. Reasonably priced.

CW, send me a gross, they sound lovely :)

I personally don't care for 'frenchified' food descriptions - hoity toity and snobby, and usually a portion so small it wouldn't feed a toddler. Give me a good steak and kidney pie, though (my husband makes a delicious one) :P

And I want a copy of your book as well! Great reading for an incurable anglophile.

Ok, what's the French for chip butty?

Any time anybody talks about eating 'escargots' here, I always talk about eating snails.

However, I must admit that there is no adequate English language term for 'foie gras' or even 'p&acirc;t&eacute;'.

Croque ma&ccedil;on en briques?