Tasting Local Baltimore

 Baltimore, MD

Taking selfies like the locals

Local Flavor

Food is one of the reasons we like to travel.  There are many places with great local food traditions.  We had Texas BBQ in Texas, we had Kansas City BBQ in K.C., and now we have had Blue Crab and Pit Beef in Baltimore.  All of these local flavors were really good.  We have had some disappointing local flavor like Provel Cheese Pizza in St. Louis (do not recommend).  We also have local flavor coming up in New Orleans.

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab

Today we tried local specialties from the area.  The first one was Blue Crab.  Instead of going to an expensive seafood restaurant, we picked up a few crabs at our local nice supermarket, Harris Teeter.  We did our normal shopping and then grabbed 3 crabs on the way out.  

They are pretty small and lighter than I would have expected.

They were steamed with Old Bay at the grocery store

The crab was really good.  I am used to San Francisco Dungeness crabs.  They are way bigger with way more meat and also way more expensive.  I think I prefer the steamed with butter over the Old Bay preparation.

It was a fun treat and a fun experience.  I am glad I didn't spend $50 getting them at a restaurant even though that would have been fun too.  I didn't have to fight off any gulls trying to steal my crab.

Old Bay 

You see Old Bay and Old Bay references everywhere you look in Baltimore.  I started seeing all kinds of Old Bay products at the grocery store so I decided to document the ones I saw.  I know there are more that I missed.

They had a nice display in front of the seafood

Okay I admit that I made a few of these myself but I am sure there are some that are just as crazy as the ones I made.  

Pit Beef

This afternoon Tony returned from his work trip and spent the evening and night with us.  We were closer to the airport and there wasn't a ton to do up in the Sparks, MD area.  Donna and I really wanted to try Pit Beef so we decided to get some when Tony arrived. 

We learned about Pit Beef in one of our favorite John Waters movies, Pecker.  It's a lot like really good Arby's.  We ended up going to a Pit Beef institution north of Baltimore called Chaps Pit Beef.  Tony mentioned to the work people he was meeting with that he was going to something called beet pit or pit beef, and all of the people he was with said, "oh yea Chaps".  

Tony is ready!

We accidentally ordered their special which has Pit Beef and Ham with cheese.  It wasn't what we thought we were ordering but we weren't disappointed.  It was so good!

We also got a large Gravy Fries

All of the online reviews make note that it is in the parking lot of a strip club.  It felt weird driving into a strip club parking lot but it was totally worth it.

Maybe we will be back for the Golden Rods.

The rest of the evening we sampled local beer and watched YouTube videos.  It was a great day.  We were so happy that Tony was able to spend the 2nd half of the day with us. 

If you missed yesterday's post you can see it here.