Yes. And no. Grits are cornmeal, but they are a specific kind of cornmeal that went through the hominy process. If you take regular cornmeal and try to make grits, you’ll end up with a watery paste that tastes like sadness.
But if you buy the right stuff—stone-ground, yellow or white, from a bag that looks like it was made in someone’s garage—you’ll get the real deal. Grits are cornmeal that has been living its best life, soaking in lye, getting ground up, and waiting for butter to make it whole again.
So next time someone asks you, “What is grits made of?” you can say, “Cornmeal, obviously. But also a little bit of southern magic and a whole lot of butter.” And then you can eat them, smile, and nod, because you finally understand why people get emotional about a bowl of ground-up corn.