Grits Fried Green Tomatoes & Remoulade Sauce

Description

My first encounter with Fried Green Tomatoes was when I was a child.  My adopted Father use to make this recipe whenever there were green tomatoes available.  Every summer he would grow a garden that included only greens.  All types of greens.  My mother managed to get in a few tomato plants in and I am assuming that is where our green tomato supply came from.  I have never seen them in a grocery store to purchase.  The version I grew up on didn’t have any remoulade sauce with it.  I had to eat them dry, but they were still very tasty.

It was at least 20 years later before I attempted to make the recipe myself.  I made it in the original style with corn meal and remoulade sauce and loved it.  Then one day recently I came across some green tomatoes from a friend’s garden.  I was determined to make the recipe for my household.  Unfortunately, I found that I didn’t have any cornmeal in my pantry.  Then I remembered that I had some grits in the pantry, and I decided to substitute cornmeal for grits.

What are Grits?

Grits are ground corn. The varieties of corn used to make grits are usually the less sweet than table corn we eat off the cob.    Grits are ground more coarsely than cornmeal and are usually made from grounding Harmony Corn.  Harmony corn is corn that is processed by soaking it in alkali solution.  This process softens the outer hull of the corn kernel so that it can be removed and removes the germ inside.  The final product allows it to be easier to grind and cook.   My father also cooked with harmony corn.  I love it in soups.

Some History of Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes has been around for a very long time.  My father said he grew up with this dish in Gallatin, Tennessee since he was a child, and he was born in 1913.  Gallatin is in the upper south of United States, so this recipe does have a southern history.  When I did some research on the history of Fried Green Tomatoes, I found many different versions quoted by historians.

Historians state, the first known recipes in print for Fried Green Tomatoes was published in a Jewish Cookbook in early 1900’s.  Others claim it originated in the Midwest and Northeastern United States.  I am sure there are many different ethnic versions of this dish.  I do know that cornmeal originally came from South America and was introduced to black slaves from the Indigenous Aboriginals People of the Southern United States.  Black slaves created many good recipes with cornmeal, hence the most famous southern recipe, Cornbread.  Black slaves were not given the best food products to eat by their masters.  They were given scrap types of food.  Stomach intestines, unripe produce, pig’s feet etc.  Unripe green tomatoes could have been one of those food items.

What is Remoulade Sauce and Where does it originate from?

Remoulade sauce originated in France.  It is a mayonnaise sauce that has herbs, horseradish or capers and some other ingredients.  Remoulade Sauce was brought into the United States through the French influence in Louisiana and other southern States.  New Orleans, Louisiana is famous for Creole cooking which Is influenced by African, French, and Native Aboriginal cultures.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade sauce is Southern cooking to me.  Most people never even heard about Fried Green Tomatoes until the movie came out in 1991.  The book that it is based on “Green Fried Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café " by Fannie Flagg. Was published in 1987.  The storyline is during the early 1920’s in Alabama.  Alabama is classified as a Southern state as well.  So, it seems Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce is a Southern Classic Recipe that you and your friends and family will truly enjoy.