By Jeff Solari- Sportschowdah.com. Last week Barstool Sports wrote a tongue in cheek article about the most popular football tailgate food state in each state. For Maine, they picked peas. Yup. Peas. I have no idea why. They didn’t even bother to write much for a funny caption for us, just that “Mainer’s love our peas.” They were joking but still…

Ummmmmmm. We can do better.

Those of us who have resided north of the Piscataqua River Bridge for years know that the Top 10 Tailgate Food that can be found at any self respecting Maine party is as follows. Peas are not on the list.

10. SPAM: And this fall all of us who party it up prior to a game can enjoy the savory new Pumpkin Spiced Spam. This is real, and it’s available Sept 23. I know what I’m bringing to Orono.

9. Fiddle heads: Nothing gets football fans ready to cheer for the home team more than boiled ferns picked right out of the local swamp complete with bugs. Touchdown!

8. Venison: Deer season doesn’t start until Nov 1 but that means we’ll have fresh meat for the playoffs.

7. Fried Bologna: I had forgotten that I had to endure this from time to time as a kid. But on any budget you can grab a pack at Hannaford, throw it in a pan and cook it right over there grill at your game. The aroma will make you the envy of the entire tailgate lot.

6. Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy: Pound this stuff and you won’t care if your team wins or loses.

5. Humpty Dumpty All-Dressed Chips- most people don’t know how versatile these marvels of the harvest are. Once in 2013 our own Sterling Pingree won the Husson Homecoming Tailgate burger cook off by crushing up 2 bags and used them to season his entry. These ridged flavor barges have since been outlawed in competition because they are viewed as a “performance enhancing drug.”

4. Baked beans and brown bread: Heck you can have your own little baked bean potluck suppah right in the parking lot. Don’t forget the pies at the end.

3. New England Boiled Dinner. Might be a few too many vegetables for a tailgate party but you can always leave them for others and just power through the corn beef.

2. Pickled eggs from the jar. As we have learned from convenience store counters in this state, these bad boys last forever. So you can fill the jar with eggs and juice for game one of the season and just keep bringing it back every week until they are all gone. If there are a few left, save them for next season!

1. Wildcat. Hunted straight from the woods in Durham, New Hampshire.