Florida’s delicacies is a mix of Southern recipes, Latin American influences and old-school Floridian methods (fried gator tail, anybody?). Add tropical fruits and the seafood bounty from the Gulf and the Atlantic coasts, and you’ve got the makings for top-of-the-line US eating locations.
Memorable meals in Florida can vary from informal affairs – snacking on fish sandwiches at a dockside restaurant – to multi-course feasts in a Michelin-starred restaurant overlooking the crashing waves. Complementing the culinary scene is Florida’s cocktail tradition, which makes dramatic use of the state’s beachfront views and unequalled sunsets.
Feast on southern cooking
Mockingly, the additional north in Florida you go, the extra southern the cooking will get. By southern, we imply the tried-and-true consolation fare of the American South: fried hen, catfish, barbecued ribs, chicken-fried steak and even chitlins (hog’s intestines). These major dishes are sometimes accompanied by belly-filling sides like cheese grits (a type of cornmeal polenta), cornbread, coleslaw, black-eyed peas, fried inexperienced tomatoes, collard greens or butter-slathered corn. For pure decadence, end issues off with a slice of pecan pie – topped, in fact, with an enormous dollop of whipped cream.
The place to strive it: Jacksonville’s Southern Allure is certainly one of Florida’s greatest locations for a blow-out meal. On Saturdays, wise-cracking chef Artwork Jennette spreads a buffet of smoked ribs, blackened shrimp, pulled pork, cornmeal fried whiting and a great deal of different temptations.
Take pleasure in market-fresh seafood
Florida has a sterling and well-deserved status for its seafood, which isn’t stunning given its 1350-mile shoreline. In truth, wherever you go, you’re by no means removed from an awesome seafood meal. This would possibly entail one thing as easy (however totally scrumptious) as a grouper sandwich, a pre-dinner snack of peel-and-eat shrimp, or one thing extra elaborate like a platter of oysters, clams, blue crabs and different delicacies.
The place to strive it: In Sarasota, the long-lasting Owen’s Fish Camp serves fried seafood baskets, shrimp-and-oyster po’ boys (submarine sandwiches), spicy Creole fish gumbo and loads of surf-and-turf combos — like seared scallops with braised pork.
Style your method throughout Latin America within the south of Florida
Many locals proudly proclaim Miami as “the capital of Latin America.” Given the ubiquity of Spanish and the panoply of individuals from each nook of Central and South America, it makes good sense — notably whenever you discover the town’s unimaginable eating scene. Right here, you may seize a seat in a loncheria (snack bar) and order a traditional Cuban sandwich: a buttered, grilled baguette full of ham, roast pork, cheese, mustard and pickles.
You’ll additionally discover arepas, corn flour muffins which can be both stuffed (Venezuelan-style) or topped (Colombian-style) with hen, beef, cheese, greens or different substances. The checklist of specialties is almost countless as you delve deeper, with totally different eating places doling out Peruvian ceviche, Mexican gorditas (stuffed corn griddle muffins), Haitian griot (marinated fried pork), Jamaican jerk hen, Brazilian moqueca (seafood stew), Central American gallo pinto (purple beans and rice) and Nicaraguan tres leches (“three milks” cake).
The place to strive it: On the famed Versailles in Little Havana, you’ll discover all the long-lasting Cuban dishes. For Peruvian fare, CVI.CHE 105 wins all of the awards. Out in Coconut Grove, Jaguar serves pan-Latin delicacies, with a wide-ranging menu of Mexican, Peruvian, Brazilian and Argentine dishes.
Sweeten your day with a slice of Key lime pie
In accordance with custom, Key lime pie was invented someday within the late nineteenth century in Key West. The small, tart limes that when grew in abundance within the Keys had been reworked into one of many world’s greatest desserts, owing to the straightforward mixture of lime juice, zest, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. After one forkful of the creamy, wealthy pie, you’ll be asking for the recipe. Key lime pie is justly famed up and down the Florida Keys, although you may as well discover it at different dessert retailers throughout Florida.
The place to strive it: In Key West, Blue Heaven serves up the perfect Key lime pie on the planet — it’s topped with a tall meringue and tastes all the higher in yard eating places with roosters working underfoot. Kermit’s sells all issues Key lime-flavored, from sauces and physique lotions to cookies and canine biscuits. The hooked up cafe serves up glorious pie by the slice, in addition to their signature Key lime pie on a stick — a frozen pie slice dipped in chocolate and eaten like a popsicle.
Watch the sundown whereas sipping a tropical cocktail
Florida loves its cocktails, with a good variety of residents believing there is no higher option to cap the top of the day than watching the sundown with a tropical libation in hand. Cuban bartenders grew to become celebrities within the Twenties for what they did with all that sugarcane and citrus; the 2 classics are the Cuba libre (rum, lime and cola) and the mojito (rum, sugar, mint, lime and membership soda). Former Key West resident Ernest Hemingway favored piña coladas – plenty of them. Jimmy Buffett, in the meantime, memorialized the margarita in order that now each seashore bar alongside the peninsula claims to make the “greatest.”
The place to strive it: Sip a Key lime mojito or a Jalisco mule in Key Largo whereas having fun with the day by day spectacle of the solar sinking into the ocean at aptly named Sundowners. At the Beach Bar on Fort Myers Seashore, you may dig your heels within the sand whereas sipping frozen margaritas and listening to the native bands tearing it up onstage.
Munch on fried alligator
Alligator tastes like a cross between fish and pork. It is more healthy than hen, with as a lot protein however half the fats, fewer energy and fewer ldl cholesterol. The meat comes from the tail and is typically served as deep-fried nuggets, although purists say grilling is one of the best ways to organize it. Most alligator is legally harvested on farms and is commonly bought in grocery shops.
The place to strive it: Close to the sting of the Everglades, the Gator Grill serves up its namesake dish in quite a lot of methods: you may have gator tacos, gator stir fry and even gator Caesar salad. There are additionally choices for non-reptile eaters, together with conch fritters, Mahi sandwiches and meat or veggie burgers.
Vegetarians and vegans
Regardless of Florida’s love for seafood and meat, it’s not onerous to take care of a plant-based weight loss program when touring within the state. Aside from a number of diehard steakhouses, most eating places have vegetarian choices, and an rising variety of locations additionally serve vegan-friendly dishes. Orlando, Tampa and Miami have the broadest assortment of plant-based eating places.
The place to strive it: In Miami, try the Final Carrot, a vegetarian joint identified for its contemporary juices, sandwiches and spinach pies. The Café is Key West’s oldest vegetarian place, serving a variety of unimaginable dishes for lunch and dinner. Darbster in West Palm Seashore is a tasty, 100% vegan restaurant that donates all income to its personal animal welfare basis.
