cshenk wrote:
> jmcquown wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> On 11/19/2016 11:12 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>> I cooked lots of breakfast grits, 40 quarts at a time, more than
>>> half the crew were southerners from the deep south and half of
>>> those of those were black (the fleet started to nickname the ship
>>> African Queen) and I never got a request to add anything, they all
>>> wanted their grits plain, some liked their runny sunnysides on top.
>>> I can't imagine grits with tomato anything (TIAD), no one wanted
>>> any sort of cheese mixed in, none wanted grits with shrimp or any
>>> kind of meat in it, not even bacon or sausage.... all I ever saw
>>> anyone add was s n'p and lots of budda. No asked for grits at any
>>> meal but breakfast.
>> (snippage)
>>
>> You know, your experience cooking on a ship decades ago doesn't
>> negate the fact that there is a Southern dish known as shrimp and
>> grits. Did you cook a lot of shrimp on that ship?
>>
>> The dish comes from humble origins. People made do with what was
>> available. Shrimp was abundant and people could (physically) net
>> shrimp for free, pretty much in their own back yard. Grits are
>> cheap. Here's a quick history:
>>
>> http://deepsouthmag.com/2014/10/01/s...its-a-history/
>>
>> Quick excerpt on how the dish evolved, according to that and other
>> articles:
>>
>> "With the combination of fresh shrimp, creamy grits and your choice
>> of topping — whether it be sausage, bacon, tomato and butter sauce,
>> bellpeppers, or a fried egg — shrimp and grits is bound to remain a
>> fundamental Southern dish that will continue to expand its
>> recognition and acclaim."
>>
>> Jill
>
> Hi Jill, if it helps any, he would have been under cost contraints from
> his supervisor (if he admits it or not) and shrimp would not have been
> on the menu for breakfast. Oddly things more exspensive but of
> traditional breakfast type, would have been.
>
> Even back in his day, you got delivered X dollars a meal per person and
> had to make it work. He did not have a modern refer (fridge) capablity
> of a modern Navy ship. His limited freezer room was for Beef and
> things that have to be frozen.
>
> Carol
>
Yeah, he was actually transferred from the USS constitution,
after he got caught fondling the breasts of every slave
woman working in the quartermaster section in the very first
port the ship sailed into for resupply.

So, then, he got assigned to a sanitary barge (USS
turdquaffer) that offloaded the sumps from the terlits on
wooden navy ships in Noo Yok harbor, and so became
proficient at cooking instant grits for the crew.

All he had to work with was instant grits, but he added
secret ingredients from the ship's hold, and made wonderful
grit dishes for all the sailors!