Two products we wanted from the Asia Market grocery store last when we went to Tours the other day were frozen shrimp, a.k.a. prawns and in French crevettes, and either fresh or frozen okra (called gombos in French). We already had a bag of American grits in the pantry. Grits are a ground white corn mush (or porridge) that originated, apparently, in the U.S. South.
In coastal South Carolina, where shrimp and grits was a seasonal dish often served at brealfast, grits used to be called hominy. We used the term "hominy grits" in North Carolina. This porridge made from dried corn kernels is similar to Italian polenta, but with a slightly different texture because of the way the corn is processed and milled. On the internet I see the term gruau de maïs for the same kind of thing in French. (Gruau must be "gruel".)
In coastal South Carolina, where shrimp and grits was a seasonal dish often served at brealfast, grits used to be called hominy. We used the term "hominy grits" in North Carolina. This porridge made from dried corn kernels is similar to Italian polenta, but with a slightly different texture because of the way the corn is processed and milled. On the internet I see the term gruau de maïs for the same kind of thing in French. (Gruau must be "gruel".)
We don't find okra in our local supermarkets very often, and we mainly find shrimp that are sold already cooked andwith the heads left on. In the Asian grocery stores in Blois and in Tours we can find both okra and
raw frozen queues de crevettes (shrimp "tails", which in English are not tails but bodies).
The shrimp are sold headless ("headed", étêtées) but with the shell left on.
I like to peel and cook shrimp myself rather than buy them pre-cooked.
For this version of shrimp and grits, I first "sweated" some chopped shallots (you can substitute onions) and garlic (4 cloves) in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Then I quickly sauteed the peeled and deveined shrimp.I had already cooked the okra in a steamer pot.
This is a pan of the southern U.S. porridge called grits. I cooked these grits in watered-down shrimp broth that I madefrom the shrimp shells with white wine, herbs, and spices. You can add grated cheese
to the grits if you want to, but I didn't want cheese in this recipe.
I added the cooked okra pods and a diced tomato to the pan with the shrimp and aromatic vegetables and
quickly sauteed everthing together. You can add more butter or olive oil at this point —
there's no other sauce for the grits. (Some recipes include a kind of gravy.)
Finally, serve the shrimp and okra over the cooked grits. Spoon it out onto plates or into bowls and serve it piping hot.There's an interesting article about the history of "shrimp and grits" here. A North Carolina
restaurant chef played a big part in popularizing the dish back in the 1980s.
I spent my childhood in coastal North Carolina, but
we didn't eat shrimp with grits back then.
What is that deep blue thing in photo #4?
ReplyDeleteI am ytrying to understand what is polenta, semolina, grits, couscous... It seem they’re all the same, except some are made from corn and others from wheat and depending on how fine they’re ground.
This dish looks very tempting! I love okra. Now, I’m hungry!
I should have taken the blue out of the photos. I usually do. The deep blue think in #4 is a darke-colored wooden spatula that was reflecting the light.
DeleteI can't really see that blue on my laptop screen. This morning, with all that's going on with the dog, I neglected to look at the photos on other tablets and computers, so I didn't see how blue it was. Did you see how blue the reflections on the stainless steel wok in picture #3 are? That is daylight coming in through the kitchen window. So is the blue reflection on the wooden spatula.
DeleteIt’s blue from one to four, but as the intensity of the light blue color increases, it is obvious that it is some kind of reflection on the metallic container. On number four the deep blue looks like something in the spoon, not a reflection.
DeleteThat wooden paddle is a spatula, not a spoon. It appears often in my food and cooking photos. The blue is actually cyan, not blue, and it is a reflection because the spatula is wet or oily.
DeleteI grew up in upstate South Carolina, and my dad would buy us large quantities of shrimp cheaply off the back of a truck that would come from the coast and park by the side of the road once in a while. We usually did the easy option, the shrimp boil, but sometimes there were leftovers. Then we'd have shrimp with stewed tomatoes and okra on rice. I live in New England now and never see okra that looks worth buying, but I did see some sliced frozen the other day at the grocery store. I might have to replicate that childhood dish, as yours looks so good. We could also buy fresh-ground grits from a couple of different local watermills. Those mills all disappeared while I was growing up, although there seems to be a rebirth now that the US has taken a greater interest in local and artisanal foods.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, okra was brought over by enslaved people from Africa, it's not a native US plant. My father had a large and productive garden, and it's a beautiful plant, worth growing if the climate allows. He sliced and froze his own on trays and they preserved well that way. It's also delicious pickled!
My mother was born in Rock Hill, where her father came from. Our relatives there seemed to eat rice morning, noon, and night. My mother, whose mother was from Morehead City, N.C., cooked grits for us nearly every morning, the way I remember things. She passed away four years ago. Okra plants produce beautiful flowers. Okra, along with collard greens, were our staple vegetables when I was growing up in Morehead. They were the ones, along with tomatoes and corn, that didn't come out of a can. I wish I could grow okra here in the Loire Valley. I've tried, without much success. I've done better with collards and kale, but it depends on the year.
DeleteYes, I recall now from other entries that your mother came from Rock Hill. My family were further west, in Walhalla. My grandmother made grits every morning, plain kind with water. Using any dairy product, other than a pat of butter on top (which we did), was unheard of. We ate rice at dinner on Sunday and supper on weeknights. Potatoes were a rare occurrence on our table other than the exquisite new potatoes my father grew. I've never had their like!
DeleteI grew up in New Orleans and don't remember having shrimp & grits. Might have been a thing in Charleston but I hadn't even heard of it till more recently (well compared to the 1960's or 70's) and even now I don't usually see okra as part of the mix but like gumbo recipes, to each his own.
ReplyDeleteI miss okra so much that I end up putting it into recipes where you don't usually see it. Couscous, for example, as well as shrimp and grits. In Morehead City, when I was growing up in the 1950s and'60s, we ate a lot of shrimp and a lot of grits — just not together.
DeleteThanks for linking the article which even mentioned a restaurant here in Birmingham. Most people here make creamy grits which I don't like as much as the simple kind made with water. I know I would enjoy your recipe which looks wonderful. My father didn't learn about grits until the nineties and then he ate them with his eggs and bacon every morning.
ReplyDeleteI've never cooked or eaten creamy grits cooked in milk or with cream, but I grew up eating cheese grits for breakfast. My mother, with all her mysterious food allergies, once said "Thank the Lord for grits — I wouldn't have made it without them."
DeleteI love cheese grits, especially when the roll of Kraft's garlic cheese was available. Eggs and butter were in the recipe along with the cheese and grits. You probably ate that recipe also. It was really popular.
DeleteI've never had shrimp and grits, only seen grits with butter on a breakfast buffet. Your dish looks, and sounds, very tasty (and it's interesting to see everyone's comments here, and the dialogue). Yumm!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds wonderful. I've never heard of grits and shrimp, having grown up in the south too. We had grits, often called hominy grits on restaurant menus (as if they were a different type of grits). I too like the uncooked shrimp better than pre cooked - don't know why. Shrimp and grits apparently is a big trend, glad you wrote this or I wouldn't have known and been au courant. Even Neiman Marcus carries them and they are sold out! https://www.neimanmarcus.com/p/shrimp-grits-prod161320022
ReplyDeleteThanks for that link. Nothing could be easier to make than shrimp and grits. Okra is my addition. Flat Romano green beans would be good with the shrimp and grits.
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