Traditional Foods - An Overview
The Lower Shore has carved a distinct culinary niche over the last few centuries. Mixing a blend of influences from English, Native American, African American and other ethnic groups, the region offers food reflecting this varied heritage. Truly the words, "The Land of Pleasant Living" stretch into her abundance of food resources. Taste traditional foods at local restaurants or purchase local food in small town markets. Seafood is the culinary centerpiece of the Eastern Shore.
Blue Crabs, steamed or fried as soft shells, and oysters represent the most important regional seafood products. Try other local favorites such as stewed striped bass, fried croaker, sea trout or fresh caught flounder.
Order some crabcakes or clam fritters, served by many local restaurants. Expect to find fresh tuna, drumfish, raw oysters or muskrat on local menus. Wild ducks and geese stewed with dumplings have been served on Sundays for generations. Other seasonal delights are strawberries, peaches, corn and tomatoes. As the birthplace of the broiler industry, this region is one of the largest poultry-producing areas in the United States. A tasty variety of Eastern Shore cooking is best exemplified at the many festivals celebrating the region's bountiful seafood, agriculture or colorful lifestyles. They offer a culinary experience you will not soon forget.
Catch your own crabs, clams, or fish and have a cookout. All you need is some steamed corn, greens and Maryland fried chicken.
Sample some of the best seafood in Maryland at the J. Millard Tawes Annual Crab and Clambake held each July in Crisfield, or visit the annual Muskrat Dinner, held each spring in the town of Bivalve.
Blue Crabs, steamed or fried as soft shells, and oysters represent the most important regional seafood products. Try other local favorites such as stewed striped bass, fried croaker, sea trout or fresh caught flounder.
Order some crabcakes or clam fritters, served by many local restaurants. Expect to find fresh tuna, drumfish, raw oysters or muskrat on local menus. Wild ducks and geese stewed with dumplings have been served on Sundays for generations. Other seasonal delights are strawberries, peaches, corn and tomatoes. As the birthplace of the broiler industry, this region is one of the largest poultry-producing areas in the United States. A tasty variety of Eastern Shore cooking is best exemplified at the many festivals celebrating the region's bountiful seafood, agriculture or colorful lifestyles. They offer a culinary experience you will not soon forget.
Catch your own crabs, clams, or fish and have a cookout. All you need is some steamed corn, greens and Maryland fried chicken.
Sample some of the best seafood in Maryland at the J. Millard Tawes Annual Crab and Clambake held each July in Crisfield, or visit the annual Muskrat Dinner, held each spring in the town of Bivalve.
A Culinary Journey Through the Lower Shore
Sometimes in life, it's best to start with dessert. Let’s set a scene first: Picture yourself on a remote, history-laden island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. The boat trip out took 40ish minutes, full of sun-kissed scenery. Here on Smith Island, old-school workboats rumble out of harbors in pre-dawn darkness. The narrow streets are a stroller's dream. Waterfront vistas abound. The kayaking is to die for.
It’ll be easy to work up an appetite. At that point find your way to a down-home restaurant and order a slice of Smith Island Cake. It’s odd, the way the signature sweet in a tradition-bound place like this looks like a piece of abstract art in a New York City gallery. Twenty or so lines in precise, alternating colors. Cake, icing, cake, icing, cake, icing. Traditional chocolate alternates in yellow and brown, but other, brighter flavor/color combos have come into vogue lately.
No one knows who invented Smith Island Cake, or when. Maybe it dates to the late 1800s. Folklore ties the dish to the island's workmanlike ways: Wives made them for husbands heading out on weeklong oystering gigs. The sugar gave those overworked men a much-needed rush. The extra layers of icing helped the cake stay moist as days piled up.
Smith Island Cake’s rise to fame dates to the 1980s when local legend Frances Kitching published "Mrs. Kitching's Smith Island Cookbook." The book is pretty famous in culinary circles. Pretty much all the fancy food magazines have given Mrs. Kitching some love over the years. Smith Island Cake now ranks as the official state dessert of Maryland. Folks from all over the country order it by mail. You’ll understand the hullabaloo as you slide a forkful in your mouth and realize that this cake tastes like the sweetest of your childhood memories.
It’ll be easy to work up an appetite. At that point find your way to a down-home restaurant and order a slice of Smith Island Cake. It’s odd, the way the signature sweet in a tradition-bound place like this looks like a piece of abstract art in a New York City gallery. Twenty or so lines in precise, alternating colors. Cake, icing, cake, icing, cake, icing. Traditional chocolate alternates in yellow and brown, but other, brighter flavor/color combos have come into vogue lately.
No one knows who invented Smith Island Cake, or when. Maybe it dates to the late 1800s. Folklore ties the dish to the island's workmanlike ways: Wives made them for husbands heading out on weeklong oystering gigs. The sugar gave those overworked men a much-needed rush. The extra layers of icing helped the cake stay moist as days piled up.
Smith Island Cake’s rise to fame dates to the 1980s when local legend Frances Kitching published "Mrs. Kitching's Smith Island Cookbook." The book is pretty famous in culinary circles. Pretty much all the fancy food magazines have given Mrs. Kitching some love over the years. Smith Island Cake now ranks as the official state dessert of Maryland. Folks from all over the country order it by mail. You’ll understand the hullabaloo as you slide a forkful in your mouth and realize that this cake tastes like the sweetest of your childhood memories.
This slice of Chesapeake heaven is one stop in a larger landscape loaded with foodie-friendly fun. The Beach to Bay Heritage Area stretches from the Chesapeake Bay on the west to the famed oceanfront resort town of Ocean City on the east. In between: rich farmland, thick forests, winding rivers, and glorious small towns.
The culinary joys of this landscape are as multi-layered as a slice of Smith Island Cake. And like that cake, they're all rooted in the history and culture of the Chesapeake. Consider, for starters, the "Beautiful Swimmers”—that’s the title of William Warner's Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Chesapeake blue crab. The town of Crisfield claims the title of Crab Capital of the World--for good historical reasons--but crabs abound in every corner of the lower Eastern Shore. You might find them in a backroads seafood shack, served steamed and spiced at a table covered oh so casually in craft paper. Or perhaps you'll meet them as a family, perched together at the edge of a pier while catching your own in "chicken-necker" fashion. Careful: The pincers can sting! |
Similarly, who knows what setting you’ll be in when you savor the crisp, buttery joy of fried soft-shell crabs. Out on a deck with a view? In a casual-as-can-be local diner? All gussied up amid white tablecloth elegance? No worries if you prefer to play it safe on the crab front: The crab cakes here are to die for.
That aforementioned oyster is another Beach to Bay staple, with a back story that dates to the days of only-in-the-Chesapeake sailing ships with exotic names—bugeye, skipjack, and pungy among them. You can dig into that history in local museums, or you can go straight to slurpin' ‘em down raw. That raw business makes some folks feel a little queasy, but no worries: You can get them grilled, fried, and baked, too. Pro tip: Don't pass on the oyster fritters if you find yourself at a small-town firefighters' carnival. The flavorful scenes keep coming one after another as you wander winding backroads and discover historic towns. Most of those towns have regular farmers markets where produce comes straight from local fields. On backroads and highways alike you’ll find roadside markets taking that same fresh approach. The springtime strawberries here are sweet little red miracles. Buy them by the pint, or head into the field to pick your own. Back at the turn of the 20th century little Marion Station billed itself as the "Strawberry Capital" of the country—again, for good historical reason. Tomatoes take center stage come summertime, followed by peaches. Little Berlin once boasted the biggest peach orchard in the country. That operation, Harrison Nurseries, marketed a variety of peach in the early 1900s named "Hale.” Trivia time: That's why Hale is the name of the town in the fictional Hollywood classic “Runaway Bride,” which was filmed in Berlin. |
Perhaps you've guessed by now how this rich mix of farmland, seafood, and deep culinary traditions is playing out in the 21st century. The combination is irresistible to chefs with a flair for farm-to-table and workboat-to-table cooking. Culinary talent abounds right now on the lower Eastern Shore. Some chefs are young up-and-comers. Others are proven veterans who tired of the big-city grind. Still others are locals who might once have felt a need to move away to advance a career.
They're all rooted here now, serving up one-of-a-kind dining experiences that showcase fresh and local approaches to American cuisine. This surge of creativity isn't just relegated to kitchens. Talented brewers, vintners, and distillers abound, too. You can easily pass a weekend hopping from tasting room to brewery tour to vineyard. Be warned, though: You'll have to make a return visit (or two) to hit them all. The festival approach is another option. The social calendar in the Beach to Bay Heritage Area is chock full of parties that celebrate local beers and libations. There are plenty of food festivals, too: The J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake, for instance, will be celebrating its 50th birthday soon. That September event is the largest annual seafood festival in Maryland. Wait, we didn't talk about those clams yet, did we? Or the rockfish served straight out of the Bay and its rivers. Or the ocean harvests--tuna, scallops, shrimp, flounder, even local lobster. You can watch those catches come in while strolling a vibrant working harbor in West Ocean City. The restaurants near there all pride themselves on a commitment to fresh ocean goodness. Bottom line: Whatever your tastes, you'll be able to craft a perfect culinary adventure on Maryland's lower Eastern Shore. Best of all, you might just fall along the way for the natural, cultural, and historical joys of the place, too. The best way to get going on planning an itinerary is at this site: https://www.beachesbayswaterways.org/ |
More About Smith Island Cakes
You may be thinking about the holiday season and gift giving and we can’t think of a better gift than the Smith Island Cake. The Smith Island cake is Maryland's state dessert. We’re breaking down everything from how this culinary tradition got started to what flavors they come in, where to buy one and even how to make one if you are so inclined. Thank you Somerset County Tourism for creating this handy guide!
One Family's History of the Smith Island Cake
1
My great grandmother Rachel Marsh was born and raised on Smith Island. She died in the early 1940’s. I never knew her, but my mother and aunts would talk about her after.
She was widowed at as a young mother of two. There was no help back then so to get money to by(sp) food, every Saturday she would bake pies, cakes, and cupcakes to sell. She never had modern stoves or overs, which brings me to my grandmother Lena Marsh Tyler. Ma Lena, I called her, was born in 1890 and died in the late 1950’s. I never knew her to have a modern cook stove and no oven with it.
Her kitchen was big and was heated with a wood stove and her cook stove was a 3-burner coal oil stove. She had a baker she called it, that pot on the floor until she wanted to bake something. The coal stove that kept her kitchen warm also would cook a pot of beans or soup on top. Also she would sit the tin baker on top to heat up to bake a pan of biscuits to go with supper.
2
She also used that tin baker to bake her cakes in of course they did not have cakes often, only on holidays. My aunt said every Christmas she would make a chocolate walnut cake. And they are good. They would make no more than six layers. Not until in later years were more layers added. The bakers only had one rack, so baking a cake back then was very time consuming being able to bake 1 layer at a time. No one really knows the origin of these cakes but I’m sure the method they had back then had something to do with it. I’ve read and heard of other places having these layer, but Smith Island kept to the tradition to this day. There are a lot of flavors of cake, btu the yellow cake with the chocolate icing is the most requested.
Thank you!
Janice Marshall
10-19-2022
P.s. In those ovens thin layers baked quicker than thick ones
1
As I recall from my childhood, my grandmother, Ma Ada, who was born in March of 1899 was an awesome cook. I enjoyed visiting and sitting in her tiny kitchen watching her (mix up) eggs, butter, and sugar to start making a cake. She would let me taste the sweet mixture on the end of her fingers. Yum! This is how she started a 3-layer cake for the weekends treat. It was baked in a small square tin over with a glass door front – I can see it now. They use this oven on open flamer because they didn’t want to (steam up) the windows with a larger oven on.
My mom, on the other hand, would let me help break the eggs and pour them into the mixture while standing on a little stool. I’ve always been intrigued by watching someone cook and then trying the process myself.
2 October 16 2022 The first cake I made by myself was in the early to mid-50’s. I would make it for my dad to take with him on the dredge boat (today known as a skipjack). He would leave home for 2 weeks and we would always want him to have a taste from home while gone – that being a layer cake (4 layers) I remember in the early 70’s when my 2 older sons were in grade school – every Halloween social we would have a cake walk – each mother was to make a layer cake for the social, one person would stand in the middle of a circle that was numbered and hold a cake in their hand. If you were on the lucky number, you won the cake. One year in particular, everyone did not make their cake as planned, so someone suggested to cut the cakes in half – thus revealing 6 layers of yellow cake with chocolate frosting in between each layer. All the |
3
women began saying who made that cake!!! First time I remember small, thin layers. Thus, began a contest among the women “Well, if she can make 6 layers, I can too – bet I can make 8” so my theory is the origin of multiple small layers. This was about 1968-1972.
I have made these cakes almost all my life since I was about 9 years old. I had the privilege representing Smith Island up in Annapolis to try and convince legislature to make this cake our Maryland State Dessert. I enjoy making these cakes and I’m sure proud of my heritage. The cake is what really put Smith Island, this tiny little island out in the middle of our beautiful Chesapeake Bay, on the map! I am now 75 years old and glad I played a role in helping this happen.