Adult & Teen Summer Reading Challenge 2025
Week Seven — Florida Food
Florida cuisine is as diverse as the cultures that settled here. Add to that our proximity to the coast and our fresh produce, like the orange that is synonymous with the state, it's no surprise that key lime pie, Cuban sandwiches, and fresh seafood are iconic dishes. Looking for a taste of Florida? Here is a sampler of fiction and non-fiction:
- Mango, Mambo & Murder by Raquel Reyes (Caribbean Kitchen Mysteries)
- Appetite for Murder by Lucy Burdette (Key West Food Critic Mysteries)
- Murder by Cheesecake : a Golden Girls Cozy Mystery by Rachel Ekstrom-Courage
- Send Down the Rain by Charles Martin
- A Culinary History of Florida by Joy Sheffield Harris
- Zora Neale Hurston on Florida Food : Recipes, Remedies and Simple Pleasures by Frederick Douglass Opie
- Cross Creek Cookery by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- The Florida Cracker Cookbook: Recipes & Stories from Cabin to Condo by Joy Sheffield Harris
- Randy Wayne White's Gulf Coast Cookbook: With Memories and Photos of Sanibel Island by Randy Wayne White
- The Florida Keys Cookbook: Recipes & Foodways of Paradise by Victoria Shearer
- The Columbia Restaurant Spanish cookbook by Adela Hernandez Gonzmart
- Florida Citrus Cookbook by Elizabeth Speir
- The Florida Cookbook: From Gulf Coast Gumbo to Key Lime Pie by Jeanne Voltz
- The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook: From Delicious Dole Whip to Tasty Mickey Pretzels, 100 Magical Disney-Inspired Recipes by Ashley Craft
- Florida's Incredible Wild Edibles by Richard Deuerling
- Field to Feast: Recipes Celebrating Florida Farmers, Chefs, and Artisans by Pam Brandon
- Delicious Disney : Walt Disney World: Recipes & Stories from the Most Magical Place on Earth by Pam Brandon
- Florida Bounty: A Celebration of Florida Cuisine and Culture by Eric Jacobs
- Florida's Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes by Dawn O'Brien
If these titles have you hungry for real Florida cuisine, here are some destinations that are sure to satisfy:
The Strawberry Festival is a Central Florida must. While there is plenty of delicious fair food to be had, the main attraction is the strawberry, from shortcake to milkshakes. You can even pick up a flat of fresh berries to take home.
Key West Lobsterfest kicks off lobster season with a fusion of food, music, and entertainment, making it a summer highlight for seafood lovers and festival-goers alike.
If EPCOT's International Food and Wine Festival is not your jam, Florida has food and wine festivals all over the state, featuring a vast array of flavors and cultures. The Visit Florida calendar of Food and Wine Festivals can help you plan a full year of yum.
If there's a fruit or vegetable grown in the tropics, chances are you'll find it at Robert Is Here fruit stand and farm. This humble roadside market in Homestead is bursting with the best produce, from mangoes, bananas, and avocados, to rarer delights like passion fruit.
Tampa's historic Ybor City is home to Florida’s oldest continuously operating dining room, the Columbia Restaurant. The Hernandez Gonzmart family opened its doors in 1905 and have passed down savory recipes through five generations.
Joe's Stone Crab opened in 1913 as a small lunch counter, but today, with its multiple dining rooms and lush patio, it's a hot spot for celebrates, politicians and Miami locals. Famous for its stone crabs, it also gets a Michelin recommendation for its key lime pie.
Known for its smoked mullet and hearty German potato salad, Ted Peters Famous Smoked Fish in St. Petersburg has been a legend since 1947. Fresh fish are smoked for 4 to 6 hours over native Florida Red Oak. The open-air setting and simple picnic tables epitomize a laid-back, timeless Floridian charm.
No Florida food list would be complete without a shout out to a Sunshine State staple: the Publix sub sandwich. If you need them, here are some tips for ordering the perfect Pub Sub.
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