National Tater Tot Day

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February 2nd is National Tater Tot Day in the United States.

First, what is a tater tot? If you live outside the U.S., you may not be familiar with the name. It can be accurately guessed that they do describe something made with potato. Tater tots is actually a trademark of Ore-Ida, but it is a term that is often used as a generic.

Tater tots are made from grated and deep-fried potato. They were first created in 1956 when the company's founders were trying to work out what to do with leftover slivers of potato. Tater tots are usually served as a side dish, and have other ingredients added to the potato, namely flour and seasoning. More recently, variants made from vegetables that are considered to be more nutritious have been made, although deep frying anything does tend to reduce the nutritional value.