The Southern Food John Wayne And Elvis Presley Had In Common

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Apart from the fact that they're both icons of American pop culture in the 20th century, you wouldn't think John Wayne and Elvis Presley had much in common. Wayne was an actor synonymous with the rugged Old West, embodying stoic, clenched-jaw masculinity in films like "Rio Bravo" and "True Grit"; Presley was a hot-blooded, pretty-boy rock idol who gyrated his hips in leather pants and bedazzled suits Wayne wouldn't be caught dead wearing. (To say nothing of the Civil Rights Movement, which Presley quietly supported and Wayne vocally opposed.) But they did both share an affinity for hearty, down-home cooking, including a mutual love of grits.

Grits, a boiled cornmeal dish popular in the South, features prominently in a cookbook, "The Official John Wayne Way to Grill," that has recipes for some of the icon's favorite foods. The grits, named "True Grits with Cheese" as a pun on the film which won him an Oscar, use a mix of cheddar and mozzarella cheese, presumably in order to maximize flavor and cheese pull. (That stretch is also what makes mozzarella one of the five best cheeses for lasagna.) Meanwhile, Presley, who grew up poor in Mississippi, ate plenty of grits growing up, and enjoyed them in his adulthood with extravagant omelets and pounds of bacon.

Grits originated as a dish prepared by the Muscogee tribe, native to what is now the southeastern United States. (Perhaps John Wayne, who deemed Native Americans "selfish" for trying to defend their land from European settlers, would be surprised by one of his favorite dish's origin.) Prepared with maize, grits can be made with either cornmeal or hominy meal; the result is a hot, savory porridge, not unlike the Italian comfort food polenta.

European colonists learned about grits from Native Americans, as was the case with many other dishes, including Rhode Island johnnycakes. The dish soon became a staple of the Southern diet, enjoyed by people from all walks of life. Some people eat it on its own for a quick breakfast, which is aided by the instant grits you'll find in grocery stores across the South; others eat it as a side dish, especially for the popular dish known as shrimp and grits (which is pretty much just what it sounds like.) Whatever the case, they're hearty and satisfying enough that two American icons counted it among their favorite foods.