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Crab cake is a popular American type of fishcake consisting of shellfish meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, and flavorings such as mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and fresh herbs. The concept of minced fish meat combined with other ingredients dates back to the ancient times when ingredients were scarce.
It is believed that a type of crab cake was first introduced to the early colonies by English settlers. There are numerous recipes for crab cakes from the 19th century, and many of them combined bread crumbs and spices, while some of them were fried.
VARIATIONS OF Crab Cake
MOST ICONIC Crab Cake
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No other dish represents Maryland's cuisine better than the crab cake - a fishcake consisting of crab meat and ingredients such as mayonnaise, eggs, bread crumbs, milk, and seasonings. The blue crab is considered to be the ideal choice of crab for the cakes.
They are usually served on a bun, accompanied by french fries, coleslaw, or macaroni salad. Originally, the dish was first prepared by the Natives, long before the arrival of the settlers. It was one of the first dishes that were adopted by the Chesapeake Bay region settlers.
MOST ICONIC Maryland Crab Cakes
Pit beef is a traditional sandwich originating from Baltimore. It consists of minimally seasoned charcoal-grilled beef (usually top round roast) that's thinly sliced and served on a bread roll or sliced white bread with condiments such as horseradish, mayonnaise, and thin-sliced raw onions.
The meat should, ideally, be rare in the middle. According to Baltimore food writer Richard Gorelick, the sandwich was first served just before the 1970s at stands around Pulaski Highway. Pit beef was also a memorable part of the plot in John Waters' 1998 cult movie Pecker.
MOST ICONIC Pit Beef Sandwich
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Pit beef is an American barbecue technique originating from Maryland. The technique features beef, usually top round, that's grilled quickly over charcoal, becoming crusty on the exterior while remaining succulent and almost rare on the inside.
The meat is later sliced into thin strips and often used as a sandwich stuffing, preferably on Kaiser rolls or rye bread. The sauce for Maryland pit beef contains horseradish instead of the usual barbecue sauces based on ketchup, vinegar, and brown sugar.
It is believed that pit beef first started gaining popularity in the 1970s in Baltimore's working-class neighborhoods.
MOST ICONIC Pit Beef
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Lobster roll is a Maine specialty consisting of cooked lobster meat that is, ideally, drizzled with melted butter and placed into long hot dog rolls. Additionally, the sandwich might include lettuce, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Traditional accompaniments include potato chips or french fries on the side.
Some claim that lobster roll first appeared at Perry's in Milford, Connecticut, while others claim it was first prepared at Red's in Wiscasset, Maine. Regardless of the origins, the entire state of Maine continues to honor the tradition by offering more version of lobster rolls than the first inventor could have possibly imagined, starting an endless debate over how it should be made and who makes the best rolls.
MOST ICONIC Lobster Roll
Corned beef sandwich is a popular food item that is traditionally consumed on St. Patrick's Day. It is both Irish and American, since it is believed that the sandwich was first popularized in New York by Irish immigrants during the early 20th century.
Typically, it consists of sliced corned beef between two slices of (usually rye or sourdough) bread, but there are numerous variations of the sandwich with added cabbage, mustard, cheese, or pickles.
MOST ICONIC Corned Beef Sandwich
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Oysters Rockefeller is a popular American appetizer consisting of oysters served on half-shells that are topped with ingredients such as butter sauce, bread crumbs, and various green herbs such as parsley. They are then either broiled or baked.
The appetizer was invented in 1899 in America's oldest family-run restaurant called Antoine's in New Orleans, when Jules Alciatore, the original owner's son adapted his father's signature dish known as escargot Bourguignon, but he replaced the snails with oysters, a local food source that was abundant in the area.
Oyster Rockefeller was born, and the original recipe is still a closely-guarded secret of Antoine's.
MOST ICONIC Oysters Rockefeller
Originating from Rhode Island, clams casino is made with littlenecks or cherrystone clams and bacon that are first seasoned and cooked, then placed together with breading on a half of a clam shell, and finished by either baking or broiling the concoction.
Despite many variations, the one constant ingredient is bacon, and the finished clams are often sprinkled with fresh parsley. The dish became extremely popular with Italian-Americans and is served in almost every trattoria in Manhattan’s Little Italy.
MOST ICONIC Clams Casino
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The most popular food of the Southern cuisine, fried chicken is the theme of many arguments where everyone involved seems to have a favorite, be it what their mothers used to make, a cult roadside eatery, or a bygone restaurant. However, it is universally agreed that the meat must be moist, succulent, and tender, coated with a crunchy, golden-brown crust.
It all started during the colonization period, when Scottish immigrants settled in the South, bringing their fried chicken recipes along. The African slaves then introduced new seasonings and spices, and the dish quickly gained popularity. Typical seasonings include salt, pepper, and hot chiles, and the pieces of meat should be edible by hand so that the consumer can bite both the crust and the meat at the same time.
MOST ICONIC Fried Chicken
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Chicken Maryland is an American dish that is basically a combination of Southern fried chicken and cream gravy. The gravy is usually made with a mixture of flour, chicken stock, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Although there is no definitive recipe, it is still debated whether the chicken should be rolled in flour, dipped in batter, or dipped in eggs and breadcrumbs.
Even the famous Escoffier had a recipe for chicken a la Maryland in his book called Ma Cuisine. In England, the dish is prepared with battered chicken pieces that are fried and served with a corn pancake and battered and fried pineapples and bananas on the side, while in Australia the term chicken Maryland refers to a whole chicken leg with thigh and drumsticks.
MOST ICONIC Chicken Maryland
