Aplets & Cotlets are chewy Washington fruit-and-nut candies made with apples, apricots, and walnuts, then dusted with powdered sugar.

Apple cider donuts are soft, spiced cake donuts made with apple cider, fried or baked, then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Arroz con gandules is Puerto Rico’s iconic rice dish made with pigeon peas, sofrito, sazón, herbs, and often pork or ham.

A New York bagel is a dense, chewy ring of dough that is boiled before baking, giving it that shiny crust and serious bite.

A Baltimore-style hot dog is a hot dog wrapped or topped with fried bologna, then finished with mustard, onions, relish, or a pickle.

Bananas Foster is a dramatic New Orleans dessert made with bananas cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, banana liqueur, and rum, then spooned over vanilla ice cream.

Barberton fried chicken is a Northeast Ohio specialty: lightly breaded chicken fried in lard and served with fries, creamy coleslaw, and spicy hot rice.

Oklahoma BBQ bologna is thick-cut bologna smoked like barbecue, sliced into slabs, and served with sauce, white bread, pickles, or onions. It is humble lunch meat turned smoky pit-house legend.

BBQ spaghetti is a Memphis specialty that tosses spaghetti with a smoky tomato-barbecue sauce and pulled pork.

Beef Manhattan is an open-faced roast beef sandwich served with mashed potatoes and a generous pour of brown gravy. It is not fancy, not fussy, and exactly what comfort food is supposed to do.

Beef on a Weck is Buffalo’s roast beef sandwich, piled onto a salty caraway kummelweck roll and served with horseradish and jus.

Wisconsin beer brats are bratwursts simmered in beer and onions, then grilled until browned and tucked into a sturdy bun with mustard, sauerkraut, or more onions.

Beignets are square pillows of fried dough buried under powdered sugar. In New Orleans, they are best eaten hot with café au lait and zero concern for wearing black.

Benne wafers are thin, crisp Charleston cookies made with sesame seeds, butter, sugar, and a little Lowcountry history in every snap.

Mississippi biscuits are tender, buttery Southern quick breads made for splitting, buttering, gravying, jamming, or dragging through whatever is left on the plate.

Bizcochitos are crisp, tender New Mexican cookies flavored with anise and cinnamon sugar.

Blue Moon is a bright blue Upper Midwest ice cream flavor with a mysterious fruity, citrusy, vanilla-marshmallow personality.

Boiled Maine lobster is as simple as seafood gets: a whole lobster cooked in salted water and served with melted butter.

Boiled peanuts are fresh green peanuts simmered in salty water until the shells soften and the peanuts inside turn tender, briny, and almost bean-like.

Boston baked beans are navy beans slow-cooked with molasses, salt pork, and seasonings until they turn dark, sweet, smoky, and deeply savory.