Tater Tots

Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Sassquiring minds want to know.

Quick sassearch tells us that Tater Tots were first created and produced in 1953 by Ore-Ida as a way to use potato shreds from french-fry production.  They first became available in stores a year later.  Today, Americans consume about 70 million pounds of Tater Tots a year.

That's a lot of Tots, sistas and mistas.  But what exactly are Tots?  Yes, Tots are a side-dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes, and, according to the Ore-ida website, Tots come in many fun shapes and flavors!  In other countries, Tots are known as: "Potato gems," "potato pom-poms," "Oven Crunchies," and "Spud Puppies."

But again, what exactly ARE Tots?    Is there a difference between restaurant Tots and institutional Tots, like the Tots served in schools?  And even though they are edible, can Tots be used in other ways?  For example, how about this use?  And this one?

Could Tater Tots be used as mortar for brick building?  Or as an adhesive for hanging favorite paintings and photographs?  What about chess pieces?  And what about stale Tots? Could they be "re-purposed" as ammunition?  Imagine David slaying Goliath not with two small stones, but rather two small Tater Tots.  Wouldn't more kids want to read those classic Old Testament stories? 

What uses can you think of for Tater Tots? Also, do you believe Tots are made from real potatoes?  If not, what ARE they made of?

Comments

[Westsista]

Oh, that wreath is just wrong.

Personally, I love them. I know they're not actual food - its like eating a "cheese-like" or "crab-like" food. They are "potato-like" food. Greasy and salty and fabulous. Especially at Sonic. I can't believe there's no Sonic in San Diego. Health nut bastards.

[Flannista]

Matiss and I had Tater Tots for the first time in ages a couple of months ago while over at DC and treesta's. They tasted great, but I didn't know what they were and was concerned because, upon first glance, they looked like droppings from a small dog that had consumed a lot of potatoes. Sorry, but they did look like that but did not taste like that, though I wouldn't know, because I've never tasted dog whatever. Sweet Jesus, what IS my point?

Anyway, the Tot experience stuck with me, much like the actual Tots did for a few days to my insides, and I was determined to post about them.

West, what is Sonic? A fast-food place?

[Flannista]

And if you believe the wreath is just wrong, check out this image that popped up for "Tater Tots":

http://www.globalpov.com/images/tater%20tots.jpg

[Matissta]

Sonic is a fast-food place, Flann. I know that from visiting my brother in AZ. It's very popular.

I wonder though, what's the difference between these and hush puppies? Yes, I'm serious. Oh how I hope Carolyn comes on today. She would know.

[Flannista]

Your comment begs this question, Matiss: what's the difference between Ore-Ida Tater Tots and Sonic Tater Tots?

And yes, Carolyn will know, kind of like, "The Wizard will know."

[PEACEsista]

With the movie Napoleon Dynomite, Tots became a cult fad food for a new generation. My kids loved them when they were young and I wish I'd have considered them as a building/craft product. They could have been useful in many school diorama projects.

[Flannista]

What kind of diarama would you have made from Tater Tots, PEACE?

Also, what's your opinion about repurposing a Tot as a more benign bullet or missle?

[PEACEsista]

I'm positive that the Tot has already been "repurposed" successfully as a missile in many a school lunch room.

It would have been much less messy to build the "volcano" project out of Tater Tots, than paper mache .. and it may have looked more realistic with a few Tot boulders. Also, roasted Tots could have served as little hay bales in a Wyoming history diorama.

[Flannista]

Silly me, of course Tots have been used as missiles in school lunch rooms for decades!

I, too, remember that "volcano" project -- it indeed would have less messy to work with Tots rather than paper mache. Those little hay bales in a Wyoming history diorama are simply precious to think about, PEACE!

You know how the White House chef always makes a huge gingerbread White House over the holidays? What if it were a Tater Tot White House instead? Also, instead of a Rose Bowl Parade, where a certain percentage of each float must be constructed of mostly flowers . . . how about a Tater Tot Parade?

[Carolyn]

Ahhhh.....the tater tot. The perfect vehicle for salt and grease. Nothing in the animal or mineral kingdom wants to claim it, so we'll call it the embarassing third cousin in the vegetable family. Tastes like hash browns, but more low-rent, the tater tot graced my school lunch plate on Fridays, along with minced fish formed into fried planks. Looking back, I realize that fish-'n-tot Fridays contribute vastly to the work load of cardiologists today. Oh . . . and the ketchup, the sugary ketchup to complement the meal was crucial, except to the few outcasts who used mayo.

I've seen tater tot casserole -- and had 'em served on an aluminum cookie sheet, white trash style, as an hors' deurves along with a cold PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon).

I suppose one could see the tot as an ingenious way to use a remnant as food. Cause that's all it really is, folks, a remnant that Ore Ida refused to cast away. Kinda like the huge jars of pickled pigs' feet you see in Southern bars -- usually the ones with the flag of the Confederacy prominently displayed. Somebody said, "Surely these pigs' feet will be consumed if we soak them in enough vinegar and simply make them available to the beer-swilling crowd." And...ouila. Pigs feet, pickled eggs, and the crack of a smartly hit cue ball on a tight rack are one in the same in my mind.

[Matissta]

Carolyn, I think you missed your calling as a food writer. You had me at "salt and grease."

But I really do want to know what a Hush Puppy is. Could you explain?

[Flannista]

Matiss -- I'm envisioning Carolyn with her own Food Network Show like Rachel Ray, though instead of constantly saying EVVO, she'll say PBR or something else more pertinent to her expertise.

I believe an even more challenging Tater Tot question for Carolyn is, "What is the difference between a Hush Puppy and a Spud Puppy (another name for Tater Tots)?" Only a true expert like Carolyn would be able to tell us, and my hopes are high as I believe Carolyn already knows the difference between PBR, Coors Light and goat piss.

[Carolyn]

You Yankees. Lawsy. How'd the South manage to lose the war?

A hush puppy is an excuse to fry corn meal batter. Take your corn meal (fresh ground is best), mix it with buttermilk, a little salt & pepper and a touch of cayenne and sugar to give it a 'sweet burn'. Once you get a thick enough paste for good grease droppin', you ball it up on a big spoon and drop 'er in. You gotta have your grease real good'n hot or your hush puppy will be soggy. You want a pup that's flaky corn bread on the inside, crunchy on the outside.

Don't go bad mouthin' my PBR, but Coors Light and goat piss could pass for one & the same.

[Flannista]

Carolyn, I threw in "goat piss" at the end as a curve hush puppy to really test your culinary tastes. You didn't -- and never -- disappoint.

Now an even tougher test: What is the difference between hush puppies and carnival fried dough and/or caulk?

[Carolyn]

price.

[Flannista]

Your expertise? Priceless.

[half-a-sista]

The White House pastry chef could not make a gingerbread house out of Tater Tots. He could make a Tater Tot trailer out of them. Heck, he could make an entire trailer park out of them.

For Halloween I suggest preparing some Tater Tots per the instructions on the package and then coating them with melted caramel and forming them into Tater Tot balls for the trick-or-treaters. Pop corn vs. tater tots, not much difference.

McD's took the tater tot idea and made pressed hash brown slices...easier to cook, easier to handle, and the same ?great? taste as Tater tots.

Are tater tots the vegetable version of pressed chicken? Parts is parts and pieces is pieces.

[Matissta]

Carolyn, oddly enough, you made my mouth water reading how to make a hush puppy.

In your opinion, how does PBR compare to Schmitt's in the tall necks?

[half-a-sista]

Here's what Tater Tots are made from:

Ingredients:
Potatoes, Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Soybean and/or Canola), Salt, Yellow Corn Flour, Onions, Natural Flavoring, Dextrose, Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate (to Retain Natural Color).

Yummy! Yummy!

[Flannista]

I see that half-a has a question that perhaps only Carolyn can answer about Tater Tots being the vegetable version of pressed chicken. And Matiss, love the question about comparing PBR to Schmitt's in the tall necks. Only a true expert would know.

I believe that I'm going to have to push back a bit, half-a, on the White House chef not making a White House out of Tater Tots. Each chef wants to leave his/her own lasting impression. That certainly would.

Thanks for providing the ingredients for Tots, half-a. I got a bit alarmed when I saw "Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate" as it was alarmingly similar to this ingredient in caulk: BENZENEDICARBOXYLIC ACID, BUTYL PHENYLMETHYL ESTER.

Of course, only someone with Carolyn's sensitive palette would be able to tell. I have a hunch, however, given her "price" answer, there's not much difference between the Disodium whatever and the BENZENEDICARBO. . . whatever. I think "ESTER" must make all the difference.

[Carolyn]

I like the idea of tater tots for Halloween. Can you imagine a greasy tater tot hitting the bottom of a kid's trick-or-treat bag with that unhealthy, greasy thud? The thought gives me a wicked shiver of satisfaction.

Believe it or not, tater tots have never been my cup of tea. It's hard to get a decent batch of them that aren't sodden in oil. At fast food restaurants, they sure ain't gonna bake those things. If you purchase the 'Ore Ida' brand, I suppose you get a higher 'quality' of potato castoff. Still, though, rather have a good ole french fry. What do we NEED tots for, anyway?

Matis, I hope to make you some proper hush puppies one day, along with some crunchy moist fish and a cold tossed salad. Not having had a Schmitt's beer before, it's impossible to compare with the PBR. If it's like Pabst, though, it'll have a lot of hops in the brew, a nice full taste. Absolutely has to be ice cold though. Best to take a wash tub full of cracked ice with kosher salt scattered through it, stick the beer all through it.

[Flannista]

Carolyn -- has the wash tub been used for other purposes before you immerse the Pabst? Does the PBR, for example, taste better if you've used the tub the day before (or an hour before) to soak some muddy garden gloves or greasy overalls?

It could be that Tots were put on earth as one of those mysteries, like bird migration and George W. Bush being re-elected. There's no cognitive explanation. They simply HAPPEN. They simply EXIST.

And now, I'm thinking that perhaps Stonehenge is actually petrified Tator Tots.

[Matissta]

Thanks Carolyn, I feel so enriched and a tad thirsty.

[Flannista]

Matiss -- you got a wash tub where you work?

[Carolyn]

Well, it somebody needs one, I got three. One of 'em is patched a little bit, but it'll hold water just fine.

I'm not sure if tots decay---they may be found in land fills after years and years of being discarded along with twinkies and hot dogs--and corn dogs. I think that the corn dog stick decays, but not the dog itself. The way you're talking, Flan, Jesus may have had a stack of tots at the Last Supper. And a Schmitt's.