It
had to happen eventually. Grits have now
entered the discourse of American politics at the highest level.
I’m
not talking about “grit” as in 1969 Western classic “True Grit”, which won John
Wayne his only Oscar (and which was remade by the Coen Brothers in 2010, a version
I still haven’t seen). “Grit”, as
personified in both movies by lawman Rooster Cogburn, is the quality of being tough,
determined, courageous, persistent. Hard
core, you could say.
Finns,
it would seem, know this quality well, since they have a word for it (sisu) that everyone who moves here encounters
soon upon arrival. You can’t overestimate
the importance of sisu for Finns. In the Finnish national psyche, the word sums
up the essential character of Finns that has allowed them to survive, even
thrive, in a harsh land. Being so fundamental
to the country, sisu has naturally
been evoked often enough in political life here, similar to the way the concept
of “exceptionalism” is constantly bandied about in American politics.
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| Grits in the morning. Photo: Sashafatcat |
But
what I’m talking about now, “grits” (always plural), is a food. It’s porridge made from ground corn (maize,
to the rest of the word) that is symbolic, in a trivial way, of my native
Southern US. Growing up in the South,
grits are a part of life.
When
I was living in Athens, Georgia, working as a lab tech, I once met my boss for
breakfast at a little downtown café that served a typical fare of eggs, bacon,
and – as Southern tradition dictates – grits, whether you asked for them or not. My boss, a botany professor and native of
California, remarked about my sprinkling sugar on the heap of grits on my
plate. I joked that I eat grits “like a
Yankee”, meaning that I adulterate them with something other than margarine or
red-eye gravy. I went on to explain that
this is the only way I can eat grits. My
boss responded flatly, “I don’t even try.”
Actually,
I don’t mind grits at all, and in fact I’m sure they’re healthy food. It’s not that grits are bad; it’s just that
they’re a bit bland by themselves.
Hence, my uncivilized abuse of this Southern delicacy.
All
of sudden, grits were in the news last week. Republican candidates are currently vying for
the hearts and minds of Southern voters, and they are doing this by showing how
they are one with local folk using the time-honored tactic of eating what the
local folk eat.
I
doubt Finish politicians face the same kind of gastronomic scrutiny and
pressure to eat, in front of the cameras, such regional dishes as black sausage
in Tampere or kalakukko (“fish
rooster”) in Kuopio. US candidates aren’t
so lucky. They routinely have to eat the
most ridiculous food on offer at any number of county fairs across the land,
including I’m sure the now-famous “fried butter on a stick”, first cooked up at
the State Fair of Texas. Candidates who
are seen turning down such real-people food, risk being labeled elitists.
Critics
once ripped into Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry when – campaigning
in the birthplace of the venerated Philly Cheese Steak sandwich – he had the
gall to order his with Swiss cheese,
instead of the de rigueur Cheese Whiz. It showed, so claimed the purists, that Kerry
didn’t have the common touch.
To
prove his own bona fides, everyman George Bush, Sr., used to make a big deal
about his fondness for the Southern treat of pork rinds (crunchy fried pig skin,
which actually isn’t that bad).
With
the primaries looming in Alabama and Mississippi today, grits are now on the
menu – again whether you want them or not.
And you’d better want them. Newt
Gingrich, who is hoping his Dixie roots will win over voters and make his
campaign slightly less embarrassing, summed it up thusly, according to the Wall
Street Journal Blogs: “If you don’t understand grits, there’s a
pretty high likelihood you don’t understand the rest of the South either.”
I
think that’s a joke, whether he meant it that way or not. But über-Yankee Mitt Romney, desperately
trying to come across as down-home as possible, is taking no chances. Last week
he bravely admitted that he has now tried for the very first time the South’s answer
to oatmeal. With cheese, as it turns out.
Not
to be outdone, Newt Gingrich trumpeted his grits credentials by reminding Alabama
voters, "I just want you to know that as a Georgian, I understand
grits. I even understand cheese
grits.”
Good
to know. May the biggest grits eater win!
