Delicious, creamy, fluffy ...stuff?
August 5, 2017 7:47 PM Subscribe
At the department brunch yesterday I had a bowl of creamy, fluffy, super delicious stuff!
By the time I figured out who made it, they were gone for the day. I asked around and was told it was maybe grits, maybe cream of wheat. It was savory with a subtle taste of bananas or plantains. The texture was very slightly gritty and creamy, sort of like mashed potatoes. What was this bowl of delicious stuff?
By the time I figured out who made it, they were gone for the day. I asked around and was told it was maybe grits, maybe cream of wheat. It was savory with a subtle taste of bananas or plantains. The texture was very slightly gritty and creamy, sort of like mashed potatoes. What was this bowl of delicious stuff?
To me that sounds like cream of wheat.
posted by tooloudinhere at 8:36 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by tooloudinhere at 8:36 PM on August 5, 2017
Several possibilities, but I'm going to suggest possibly grits. Definitely has a Cream of Wheat taste to me, and is creamy and fluffy. Not sure about the subtle taste of bananas or plantains, but I suppose that would depend on what sorts of flavorings were in it.
posted by ClaireBear at 8:37 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ClaireBear at 8:37 PM on August 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Have you ever had polenta, cream of wheat, or grits before, ever? That info would help. Also it would help to know what color it was, what temperature it was served at, where in the world this was, etc.
I wouldn't call cream of wheat gritty, but maybe I would if I had it for the first time as and adult.
Polenta can be fine to coarse, grits are usually coarser. The difference between polenta and grits is mainly whether the corn was slaked with lime: grits are ground hominy, which is nixtamalized corn. Polenta is just coarse ground cornmeal.
All can be made with tons of milk and fat and smooth/creamy flavors. All can do well with a bit of banana, but maybe that's less common on the polenta.
Really could be any, and they all can be delicious and sort of convergent, along with rice cereals and multigrain hot cereals.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:53 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't call cream of wheat gritty, but maybe I would if I had it for the first time as and adult.
Polenta can be fine to coarse, grits are usually coarser. The difference between polenta and grits is mainly whether the corn was slaked with lime: grits are ground hominy, which is nixtamalized corn. Polenta is just coarse ground cornmeal.
All can be made with tons of milk and fat and smooth/creamy flavors. All can do well with a bit of banana, but maybe that's less common on the polenta.
Really could be any, and they all can be delicious and sort of convergent, along with rice cereals and multigrain hot cereals.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:53 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you're in the US, it should be fairly easy to purchase Cream of Wheat and grits at a grocery store and test out those hypotheses experimentally (see if they taste like this item).
Were these homemade brunch items, like a potluck, or food-service-prepared? Was this brunch in the Southern US or elsewhere?
Food-service grits in my experience often taste slightly metallic, not banana-y; given that description I suspect Cream of Wheat. But again, you can test those hypotheses.
posted by snowmentality at 9:06 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Were these homemade brunch items, like a potluck, or food-service-prepared? Was this brunch in the Southern US or elsewhere?
Food-service grits in my experience often taste slightly metallic, not banana-y; given that description I suspect Cream of Wheat. But again, you can test those hypotheses.
posted by snowmentality at 9:06 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I have had cream of wheat, grits, polenta, risotto, oatmeal, farro and quinoa. Ditto tamales, gorditas, sopes and pupusas. It was very white, light in consistency and not exactly gritty but with a slightly grainy as opposed to fibrous texture. It was room temperature by the time I got it, not sweet, not spicy, savory in the way of potatoes but not tasting of potatoes. I'm going to look through some Caribbean recipes and see if anything looks right.
posted by Allee Katze at 9:11 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Allee Katze at 9:11 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Whipped cauliflower?
posted by ChristineSings at 9:13 PM on August 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ChristineSings at 9:13 PM on August 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Mofongo (mashed plantain)?
posted by Champagne Supernova at 9:27 PM on August 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Champagne Supernova at 9:27 PM on August 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tapioca pudding?
posted by daisystomper at 9:38 PM on August 5, 2017
posted by daisystomper at 9:38 PM on August 5, 2017
Response by poster: I'll find out on Monday and let you all know.
posted by Allee Katze at 9:46 PM on August 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Allee Katze at 9:46 PM on August 5, 2017 [5 favorites]
It was savory with a subtle taste of bananas or plantains. The texture was very slightly gritty and creamy, sort of like mashed potatoes.
I mean, the obvious things sounds like some sort of mashed plantain. If not straight up mashed plantains, maybe a mofongo-type thing?
posted by mudpuppie at 10:47 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
I mean, the obvious things sounds like some sort of mashed plantain. If not straight up mashed plantains, maybe a mofongo-type thing?
posted by mudpuppie at 10:47 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Jamaican banana porridge? Mash underripe bananas with a little bit of flour and milk, cook on stove until light, fluffy, creamy, and barely banana-y?
posted by stillmoving at 2:21 AM on August 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by stillmoving at 2:21 AM on August 6, 2017 [3 favorites]
Upma or banana upma or halwa (a less sweet breakfast version, not the typical in restaurants dessert version)? All of these, by the way, are basically made from cream of wheat.
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity at 5:18 AM on August 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity at 5:18 AM on August 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Small rant from a Southern U.S. person: Grits should not be creamy! They should be stiff enough for a fork to stand up in them; butter will loosen them a tad. Butter and salt are the only acceptable additions, with a possible exception for red-eye gravy. I've only started seeing this "creamy" grits in the last few years and am not sure why—possibly adjusting for "furriners" and the trend for New Southern Cuisine by chefs and customers from elsewhere. If you have creamy grits, how are you going to slice and fry it the next day, maybe in leftover red-eye gravy? [rant over]
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:19 AM on August 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by MovableBookLady at 9:19 AM on August 6, 2017 [7 favorites]
I wonder if it was banana sheera, an Indian dish. Your description immediately sent my taste buds back to a hare krishna temple that used to serve that at their group feasts. Yummy and unusual.
posted by LKWorking at 11:33 AM on August 7, 2017
posted by LKWorking at 11:33 AM on August 7, 2017
Response by poster: Okay, so weirdly enough it was stoneground grits cooked overnight in the Crock-Pot and finished off with cream and cheese. I know it's blasphemous but holy Toledo they were so delicious!
posted by Allee Katze at 3:59 PM on August 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Allee Katze at 3:59 PM on August 7, 2017 [3 favorites]
RECIPE PLEASE
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:54 AM on August 8, 2017
posted by a fiendish thingy at 6:54 AM on August 8, 2017
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polenta
Another guess is risotto
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risotto
posted by Jacen at 8:23 PM on August 5, 2017