For some reason this food item pisses me off.
Now I have seen this dish cooked every damned way that a shrimp can be cooked, including some ways that they should not be cooked for human consumption. And as for grits, I am reminded all too often of ”My Cousin Vinnie” when Vinnie asks ”what’s a grit?”
When executed properly it is a fine dish; in some cases a fabulous dish. Sometimes, not so much.
Here is the problem in my opinion. This dish has become ubiquitous with the so-called ”soul food” movement. Sadly, that is totally and completely BullShit, with a capital B and a capital S.
Outside of a very, very limited section of the South people of the African-American persuasion had more than a passing access to shrimp, either before, during, or after emancipation. Yes, it was accessible in certain areas but it definitely was no means universal. In truth, Shrimp and Grits was poor people’s food where shrimp was plentiful. Guess what? It definitely wasn’t just on Black tables. They were more interested in feeding their family than creating a food ”tradition”.
I het tired of this pseudo-traditional and pseudo-ethnic alliterations to foods or actions.
I kind of understand it. People want to be ”special” even if it is bullshit. But truth is truth.
Strangely, the biggest injustice is that crap like this artificially tries to make us different. We are not that different. Like I have said before; I ate soul food all the time growing up but I just called it dinner. (l am a white dude with “underprivileged” ancestry, much of it southern).
