To celebrate its endless fannie may s’mores snack mix creativity, we’re throwing our list of 50 most delicious American food items at you. We know you’re going to want to throw back. American items inevitably means leaving out or accidentally overlooking some much-loved regional specialties.
Now get the rubber apron on because we’re going first. Key lime pie is a staple on south Florida menus. If life gives you limes, don’t make limeade, make a Key lime pie. The official state pie of Florida, this sassy tart has made herself a worldwide reputation, which started in — where else? Florida Keys, from whence come the tiny limes that gave the pie its name. Aunt Sally, a cook for Florida’s first self-made millionaire, ship salvager William Curry, gets the credit for making the first Key lime pie in the late 1800s.
Tater tots are crunchy fried potatoes. We love French fries, but for an American food variation on the potato theme, one beloved at Sonic drive-ins and school cafeterias everywhere, consider the Tater Tot. Notice it often has the registered trademark — these commercial hash brown cylinders are indeed proprietary to the Ore-Ida company. If you’d been one of the Grigg brothers who founded Ore-Ida, you’d have wanted to come up with something to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes, too. Sourdough bread is San Francisco’s most beloved baked treat. Sourdough is as old as the pyramids and not coincidentally was eaten in ancient Egypt. But the hands-down American favorite, and the sourest variety, comes from San Francisco.