Awendaw Soufflé (Grits Soufflé)

This classic Charleston side dish features thick and creamy corn grits lightly flavored with Cheddar cheese and chives, and made airy like a soufflé when baked with beaten egg whites. Most people wouldn't associate grits with being delicate. Grits are filling and hearty, something you eat that sticks to your ribs to keep you full throughout the day. And if you’re not from a certain part of the Southeastern United states, there's a decent chance you're not familiar with well made, high quality grits. But not only will a good pot of grits wow a crowd, in a preparation like Awendaw soufflé, it's the definition of lightness. Awendaw is a grits dish famous in Charleston that straddles the line between a cornbread, a spoonbread, and a soufflé—in fact, depending on the recipe, you may see it described as one or the other. Many versions are, on a technical level, remarkably similar to a soufflé, with the grits taking the place of a French soufflé's bechamel base; beaten egg whites are folded into the grits, which puff and swell as the Awendaw bakes.