For Baltimore residents, the first crab cake with mustard is an unforgettable experience, but some of the city’s once popular dishes have been forgotten over time.
The Baltimore Hot Dog and forgotten recipes
Attman’s Delicatessen is one of the last places in the city that serves the Baltimore hot dog with sweet relish, raw onions, Attman’s mustard seeds and fried sausage.
According to Marc Attman, Attman’s is the longest-running, family-run Jewish delicatessen in the country.
“It’s not just the hot dogs – it’s the hot dogs with the sausage on them”, said Attmann.
Kara Mae Harris has spent years studying and unearthing forgotten recipes from across Maryland. Her blog, Old Line Plate, has a database of hundreds of recipes.
“The food culture of the city was essentially based on slavery,” Harris said. “You took these dishes that people served on the plantations and things like the Maryland Fried Chicken and the terrapin, and there was a really big catering profession.”
Baltimore owes its culinary popularity to the “caterers” of the 20th century – enslaved African Americans who essentially developed most of the “Southern cuisine” that is still eaten today.
“It takes a lot of work and years to learn these skills to prepare this food and run these businesses, but they have been pigeonholed” and treated as if they were born to prepare these dishes, Harris said.
While caterers played an important role in the development of Baltimore cuisine, and we might be better off without the diamondback terrapin on our menus, dishes like Attman’s Jewish bologna are in danger of extinction.
“Demand is really the most important thing,” Harris said.
smear
But there is hope for some of the other oldies that Baltimore is still holding on to.
Harry Herman runs Herman’s Bakery in East Baltimore, one of the last places in the city that still serves “smearcase” – a cheesecake that is slowly finding its way back into people’s stomachs and hearts.
“The Smearcase has become very popular with the general public, it is the most popular cheesecake we bake,” said Herman.
The Herman family has owned and operated the bakery since 1923, when they opened their first bakery in Patterson Park in East Baltimore, according to Herman.
At that time, the neighborhood was mainly inhabited by Polish and German immigrants.
“The spread and the peach pie both come from these German-style bakeries, and I was concerned about the spread because, as far as I know, you can only get it in two places,” Harris said.
cod
Cod is also one of the foods that can be preserved in the city.
Harris said a company called Cohen’s Coddies controlled much of the early production of cod cakes in Baltimore.
“It’s more of something you just get when you’re out and about – like street food,” Harris said. “I have recipes for crab cakes because people make them a lot at home, but cod not so often.”
Cod is one of the most popular Baltimore-style menu items at his deli, Attman said.
The constant change in Baltimore’s most popular foods is evidence of changing tastes, Harris said.
“We just have a unique combination of all these things and influences,” he said. “Now new groups of people are coming here … all these foods are ultimately combining them.”
