Tater Tots

Tater Tots, also known as "Tots", a registered trademark for a commercial form of hash browns, is a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes. [ [http://www.oreida.com/funzone/funfacts.aspx Ore-Ida Fun Zone - Fun Facts ] ] Tater Tots are widely recognized for their crispiness, cylindrical shape and small size

"Tater Tots" are commonly found in the U.S. in cafeterias and school lunch-counters, as well as the supermarket frozen food aisle and some fast food restaurants. In Australia, they are known as "potato gems" or "potato pom-poms" (also used in New Zealand). In the UK, Ross Frozen Foods once produced "oven crunchies" which are no longer available. McCain Foods Limited calls their line of tater tots "Tasti Taters". Cascadian Farm calls their line of tater tots "Spud Puppies". Some Mexican-style fast-food restaurants in the Pacific Northwest offer seasoned tater tots: Taco Time and Señor Froggy call them "Mexi-Fries", while Taco Bell used to sell them as "Mexi-Nuggets". In some areas of the Northeast USA, however, they are often called "jullienes" or "potato puffs".

"Tater" is slang for potato (origin: 1750–60; America; by aphesis, "tato", and substitution of -er for final -o, "tater"); "Tots" may have been derived from their diminutive size, or because they are often served to children. [ [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tater tater - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ] ] [ [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tot tot - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ] ]

History

"Tater Tots" were first created and produced in 1953 by the Ore-Ida company, now a subsidiary of H. J. Heinz Company, as a means of utilizing potato shreds remaining from french fry production. [ [http://www.oreida.com/funzone/funfacts.aspx Ore-Ida Fun Zone - Fun Facts ] ] They first became available in stores in 1954. Today Americans consume approximately 70 million pounds of "Tots" per year.Fact|date=November 2007

The Burger King fast food franchise recently established a tater tot variant, dubbed "Cheesy Tots", as a regular item available on both its breakfast and lunch/dinner menus. Cheesy Tots are coin-shaped and, as implied by the name, contain melted cheese as well as potatoes.

ee also

*Croquettes

References