Buckwheat groats
and grits are both widely eaten as breakfast cereals and as side dishes with other foods. Which one is better depends largely on personal taste. Both products are made by breaking up grains using a mill and then cooking the resulting meal in water, making it more palatable. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Buckwheat Groats
Buckwheat groats, as their name implies, are made from buckwheat. Buckwheat is actually a fruit, although it looks like and is used as a grain. Before milling it looks roughly like giant peppercorns with triangular hulls. Groats are created using the same milling process as for making buckwheat flour but with the grinding wheels set slightly farther apart to leave larger bits of the buckwheat. After milling, the meal is sifted to remove the broken hulls and other impurities.
Grits
Grits are made using a process very similar to that used for buckwheat groats but they are made out of corn. Dried corn is processed with a grinding stone that is set to a wider setting than that used for cornflour, resulting in crushed, granular corn bits that are known as grits.
Uses
Both buckwheat groats and grits can be boiled in water to create a breakfast cereal that is similar to oatmeal. Buckwheat groats can be mixed with oats to create a hearty mixed oatmeal, while grits can be added to cornbread flour to create a crunchier bread.
Locations
Grits are so popular in the American south that they have become synonymous with southern cooking. Grits are eaten for breakfast as well as with other dishes at lunch and dinner. Buckwheat groats are not nearly as popular in the United States and are seen by some as "hippie food" because of their association with health food stores and macrobiotic diets. Buckwheat groats are very popular in Russia and Eastern Europe and eaten by a wide variety of people.
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