A tater tot is a side dish made from deep-fried, grated potatoes. They are widely recognized by their crispness and cylindrical shape. Tater Tots is a registered trademark of Ore-Ida (a division of the HJ Heinz Company), which has become genericized.
The product was created in 1953 when Ore-Ida founders F. Nephi Grigg and Golden Grigg were trying to figure out what to do with leftover slivers of cut-up potatoes, which at the time was being sold to feed livestock at low margins. They chopped up the slivers, added flour and seasoning, then pushed the mash through holes and sliced off pieces of the extruded mixture. The product was first offered in stores in 1956.
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The Daily Omnivore 