"Maryland crabs" news and stories

Government officials in Virginia and Maryland are ecstatic over reports showing the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population has rebounded as the result of a conservation program implemented in 2008.

A release from Va. Governor Bob McDonnell's office characterized the findings as "great news for everyone who enjoys genuine Chesapeake Bay crab cakes and she-crab soup."

According to a survey released last week, the population has spiked 60 percent since last year, bringing the total blue crab count to 658 million.

Two things define the food of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay metropolis: spices and seafood. And the former owes its prominence to the latter -- plentiful crabs that once bred like hard-shelled rabbits in the bay's warm waters. "When they were prevalent, bars here would have steamed crabs as giveaways," explains local food writer Dara Bunjon. "So that people would drink more, they made them that much more spicy." In other words, it seems that the city's core condiment, known as Old Bay Spice, was cooked up as a ruse to raise profits at drinking dens.

Food guru Marguerite Thomas theorizes that the city's history as a port combines with its Southern-tinged psyche to make spice such a staple. "You can go to a crab house and order cracked crabs without Old Bay, but people look at you funny," she chuckles. "Baltimoreans take great pride in it." The difference between restaurants' recipes for crab cakes is usually centered on the seasoning. She also loves the crab cake-esque coddie: "I grew up eating them. I'd go to the fountain and for 11 cents, I got a coddie and a Coke as my after-school snack." Thomas says that coddies were traditionally a Jewish treat, a kosher riff on the crab cake made from cod and potato and served on a saltine with a dab of mustard.

Read our "only in Baltimore" list after the jump...

• Stephanie Shapiro takes a look at classic Baltimore fare and digs a little deeper to reveal that much of the food that is associated with the city isn't actually produced there anymore.
• One thing that is still growing in Maryland is tomatoes, ugly, gnarled, juicy and tasty tomatoes. Get 'em while they're ripe!
• In the Cooking 101 column, they're whipping up Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Semifreddo, for an easy dessert that will impress the neighbors.
  
• Krystina Castella's book, Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone has been making the blog and newspaper rounds recently and this week, she's in the Balitmore Sun!
• We know that Elvis was a fan of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, but did you know that he was also fond of meatloaf? Well, according to this recipe for his cook's meatloaf recipe, he way.
• Forgo the tuna sandwich and stir up these Summer Shrimp-Salad Sandwiches instead.
• Streuseled Fruit can be made quickly in the microwave out of all the ripe summer fruit. Sounds like the perfect quick summer dessert (as long as you are cool with cooking in the microwave).

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