Florida is a very special state to me. Both my mom and stepmom are from Florida, so I grew up visiting just about every year of my childhood. I have the fondest memories spending time with my grandparents, eating fried seafood, and going to the amusement parks. I really wanted to do Florida justice, so I split it up into two distinct three-course-meals to really try and cover the cultural influences and local flavors of the state I grew up loving.

Florida’s cuisine is just as diverse as its geography. From the beaches to the swamps, Florida offered a lot of inspiration to work with.

Let’s start with the northern part of the state. North Florida’s cuisine reflects the southern traditions of the panhandle and its proximity to the Gulf Coast. For the appetizer: I had to make fried gator bites. I felt so cool eating these at the Whitey’s Fish Camp in Middleburg, Florida when we would visit my grandmother. What can I say, I’ve always been an adventurous eater. Thankfully I could find frozen gator tail meat at a Piggly Wiggly here in Alabama. I marinated the thawed gator tail in some seasoned buttermilk for a couple hours to tenderize it and reduce the gaminess a little. Then just battered it and deep fried it like the true southern implant woman I am. I served it with a homemade peppery remoulade to dip them in. If I had to just make one dish to represent Florida, it’d be this one. My Florida, at least.

For the main course I did one of my favorites: a blackened grouper sandwich. Grouper is a Gulf Coast staple — flaky, mild, and perfect for blackening. My homemade blackening seasoning has smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, dried thyme, dried oregano, course black pepper, salt, and some cayenne pepper. All the sandwich needs is some lettuce, tomato, your choice of tartar or remoulade, and potato chips on the side. One bite and you’re transported to a seaside restaurant in Pensacola called Fat Daddy’s Fried Seafood Shack, or something.

For the dessert, I knew I wanted to do something with Florida oranges and then immediately thought of a memory with my mom. We went to St. Petersburg for a little girl’s trip / family reunion with her side of the family, and she introduced me to an Orange Julius. She told me how these were popular in shopping malls when she was growing up. Even though Orange Julius originated in LA, I associate it with Florida because of Florida citrus and also my mom. I made the copycat drink by blending orange juice, ice, milk, vanilla and sugar until it was a creamy smoothie consistency. Big fan!

Let’s pivot to the Latin, Caribbean and tropical influences of South Florida. For the appetizer, I made fried plantains (tostones) with avocado ranch. Tostones are a quintessential Caribbean snack made by smashing slices of green plantains and frying them until crispy. For the dipping sauce, I put ripe avocado, cilantro, lime, and some pickled jalapeño in a food processor until I got a creamy dip.

The main course is one of Florida’s most famous dishes. The Cuban sandwich aka Cubano is an icon of Miami’s food scene, even though it was technically invented in Tampa at the Columbia Restaurant (where I just so happened to have had the best meal of my life). This pressed sandwich layers roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard on Cuban bread. Luckily I live where Publixes are, so accessing Cuban bread was no issue.

I marinated my pork shoulder in the Goya brand Mojo marinade for simplicity, and slow roasted it until tender. I got to whip out my panini press, although traditionally you would place the sandwich in a cast-iron skillet and press down on it with another cast-iron skillet. This sandwich is a porky, cheesy, tangy dream.

Last stop, South Florida’s dessert and arguably THE most famous Florida dish: key lime pie. Oh my stars, I love key lime pie. So tangy and sweet and creamy with the salty crunchy crust. It’s truly heaven on earth, and I can’t thank Florida enough. I made this dish (because I am obsessed with it) but also because it’s a nod to the Florida Keys where key limes grow in abundance.

I’m not sure if you, reader, are familiar with key limes so if you’re not, I wanted to point out how tiny they are compared to regular limes. It was a huge labor of love to squeeze enough key limes to render enough juice for the pie, but so worth it! You must use key limes. Regular limes will not pack the same punch. Also, I love to add a pinch of salt to my graham crackers when I pulse them in my food processor to make the crumbs for the crust. A hint of a salty, sweet crust makes for the perfect base for the creamy, tangy pie filling. I am so passionate about key lime pie if you couldn’t tell.

Alas, there is my love letter to Florida and its cuisine. Next stop, Georgia.