Grit (grain)

{{Short description|Bran and chaff of cereal grains}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Grit | image = Rice_chaffs.jpg | caption = Rice chaffs | alternate_name = | country = | region = | creator = | course = | type = [[Cereal]] | served = | main_ingredient = | variations = | calories = | other = }}

'''''Grit''''' (going back to [[Old English]] ''grytt'' or ''grytta'' or ''gryttes''<ref>The ''OED'' gives the following earliest references: ''Epinal Gloss''. 823 Pullis, grytt. c1000 ÆLFRIC ''Gloss.'' in Wr.-Wülcker 141/20 ''Apludes'' uel ''cantabra,'' hwæte gryttan. c1000 ''Sax. Leechd.'' II. 220 oððe grytta. a1100 ''Ags. Voc. '' in Wr.-Wülcker 330/33 ''Furfures, '' gretta. 11.. ''Voc.'' ibid. 505/13 ''Polline, '' gryttes. a1225 ''Ancr.'' R. 186 þis is Godes heste, þet him is muchele leouere þen þet tu ete gruttene bread, oð er werie herde here.</ref>) is an almost extinct word for [[bran]], [[chaff]], or mill dust. It is also used for oats that have been husked but not ground, or that have been only coarsely ground—coarse [[oatmeal]].

The word continues to be used for modern dishes like [[grits]], an American [[maize]]-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground corn; and the German [[Rote Grütze|red grits]], Rote Grütze, a traditional pudding made of summer berries and starch and sugar. Grit here was the cheap supplier of starch. Gruels of grit, oatmeal grit preferably, were standard European nutrition of the lower classes in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

==See also== {{portal|Food}} * [[List of porridges]]

==References== {{reflist|1}}

==External links== * [http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50099047?query_type=word&queryword=grit OED on word usage, restricted access]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grit (Grain)}} [[Category:Cereals]] [[Category:Porridges]]