Author: Cassie Stevens
I am a southern girl, and I eat like it too. Cornbread, beans, grits, mashed taters, all kinds of gravies, butter, BBQ, etc. Southern comfort foods, and this is one of them. Shrimp and grits! YUM! better yet, spicy shrimp and grits! YUM! YUM!
Shrimp and grits started out as a seasonal fisherman’s dish of shrimp cooked in bacon grease served over creamy grits in the south where they were also known as “breakfast shrimp.” The popular cuisine of corn grain provides a new twist in a variety of ways that it can be made. This has caused chefs to try to create new variations of the basic shrimp and grits recipe.
You may be wondering what grits are made of. Well grits, formerly “hominy,” is ground corn that has been mashed. This dish was invented by the Native Americans from the Carolina region. Grits were used as one of the ways for Native Americans and white people to communicate in the latter part of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century before people learned how to speak the same language. An important event happened in 1584, when Native Americans gave some of their grits to Sir Walter Raleigh, and the people who came to live in Jamestown, Virginia a few years later.
The colonists were learning about maize (corn) from the Native Americans, who were well versed in that area. Multiple items quickly became basic food sources for the settlers, including corn and grits. These items had been a normal part of the Native American diet for a long time.
Centuries later, in 1976, grits were declared as the official state food of South Carolina and are well known for their significant contribution to the culture and economy of South Carolina, and the power of the people who live there. The region stretching from the Carolinas to Louisiana is now called America’s Grits Belt.
For many people in this region, a day without grits is like a day without sunshine. They hate and have no respect for prepackaged instant grits or quick grits. For them, the only way to eat real grits is to cook them the old fashioned way slowly with stone ground grits. However, there are a number of ways to spice up the meal like adding shrimp.
For many decades, shrimp and grits were a mainstay of the diet of the people who lived in and around Charleston, South Carolina.
I live in Tennessee, not far from the origin of shrimp and grits. I love it! Well, in this recipe I used, lemon juice, butter, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, parsley, garlic, and onion powder. Spicy!
I cooked my grits then added a little butter, salt, and cream to my taste. Viola! the best ever spicy southern shrimp and grits. Gotta love it! Good southern comfort food! Enjoy! ~ C
(Edit)
10 to 15 cooked shrimp (depending on size)
Juice from half a lemon
1 tbsp salted butter
1 dash cayenne pepper (or to your heat preference)
1 three finger pinch dried parsley
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
In sauce pan combine all ingredients until heated through. Serve over cooked grits.
Pen Pals and Cookin' Gals 