Samp for Breakfast

Samp (aka coarse hominy) is like supersized grits. It is corn with the hull removed and cracked once or twice. Grits has the hull removed and ground to a powder.

When I was a kid, my father would make Samp about once a year. He'd soak it over night, then simmer it with hamhock. Sadly due to health concerns, no additional salt was added. At the bowl, my brother and I added quite a bit of salt and pepper to make it edible.

I have about two pounds of it that I bought at the Jamesport Country store. My father can regal any interested listener about obtaining the stuff over the years and the efforts he had to go through to get it. In any case, I need to consume the stuff, so I am experimenting a bit in the kitchen.

Since Samp is super-sized grits, I figured I'd try cooking it in a similar way. Being alone for breakfast, I opted for generally the same recipie. Here's what I found from day 1:

3 Tablespoons grits

1-1/4 cups water (need more water than grits because it cooks much longer

1-1/2 tsp margarine or butter

salt to taste

Combine water, margarine, and salt. Bring water to a boil, add samp. Reduce heat and simmer for 32 minutes. Serve hot.

The key is to cook it long enough to soften the grits enough to remove the crunch.

The next samp experiment will be Samp for dinner. I am thinking modifying a corn chowder recipie and see what comes out.