There has probably been no greater force for the dissemination of recipes developed by home cooks than recipe contests.
State and county fairs in the 19th century hosted many cooking contests as a part of their “ladies” programming. These fairs were an opportunity for women gather and to show off their “domestic arts”, from needlework to baking and cooking. In my research about White Potato Pie, I came across a “white potato custard pie” category at the 1880 Cecil County Agricultural Society exhibition. The level of specificity suggests a large amount of prizes to be awarded. The other pie categories that year were Green Peach, Dried Peach, Green Apple, Dried Apple, Grape, Cherry, Gooseberry, Currant, Pumpkin, Cocoanut, Lemon, and Apple – and that is just for pies. There were contests for preserves, cakes, breads, cheeses, and more. The dollar prize adjusts to about twenty dollars in “today money.” Considering the amount of effort to just travel to these events, it was clear that the glory of winning was an incentive as well.
It wasn’t long before companies selling ingredients and kitchen appliances figured out that they could use contests as a way to get publicity – and to crowdsource recipes to promote their products. Companies like Heinz, Borden, and Kraft have held recipe contests over the decades. Sometimes, the winning recipes ended up published in promotional cookbooks and advertisements. Newspapers used recipe contests as a way to engage women readers. Home economists and cooking teachers were often employed as judges.
In November 1910, hundreds of women showed up to the Bernheimer Brothers store in downtown Baltimore to enter their bread loaves, biscuits, pies, doughnuts, and cakes to be judged by “representatives of local newspapers.” The Baltimore Sun described some of the cakes as “ornamental in the extreme” and touted the “skill shown by Baltimore women” but did not print the names of any of the winners or the names of the winning items.
Perhaps the Sun was inspired by the success of this contest to hold their own contest in early 1911.
Advertisement for the recipe contest in the San Francisco Examiner, 1901
Crab-cakes may be king now, but it wasn’t always so. From the 1800′s right on up through the 1950′s, if you wanted to impress some guests, you’d serve them crab meat picked from the crab, mixed with an assortment of seasonings, packed back into the crab shell with some breadcrumbs on top and baked until golden brown. Très Élégante!
Not to be confused with the Southern dish of the same name, “Deviled Crab” is essentially crab salad or crab imperial, broiled in a crab shell. Some recipes, such as those from “Mrs. Kitching’s Smith Island Cookbook” (1981) and the Baltimore Evening Sun’s “Fun with Sea Food” (1960) just refer to this dish as Crab Imperial. With those recipes included, the Deviled Crabs recipes in my database out-number the crab cake recipes.
Whereas crab-cake formulas are all but set in stone these days (”NO FILLER YE INFIDELS!”), Deviled Crab is a nice alternative that allows a little leeway. Recipes from the late 1800′s books “Queen of the Kitchen” and “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen” simply place the picked crab meat in the shell, top it with breadcrumbs and butter, and broil.
Later recipes stuff the crab shells with a salad containing a variety of ingredients. Most contain some combination of breadcrumbs, egg, milk or cream, pepper, Worcestershire, mustard, parsley, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Other optional add-ins include onion, mushroom, green pepper, horseradish, sherry and Tabasco sauce.
I didn’t have all of the ingredients to make any one particular recipe, so I just winged it. The results were actually pretty fantastic… better than many crab-cakes I’ve had. Tasters attributed the success primarily to the flavorful shallot, and the fact that the crab meat was a combination from the entire crab. Such features included in a crab-cake recipe would have me pilloried.
Recipe:
(things I had around)
½ lb crabmeat
½ cup breadcrumbs
1 shallot, minced fine
½ cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
½ tsp Worcestershire Soy Sauce
½ tsp mustard powder
dash hot sauce
salt, pepper
topping: breadcrumbs, butter, paprika
Pick meat from crabs & clean shells thoroughly, if using. Mix mayo with shallot and seasonings and gently fold in crabmeat. Gently drop into crab shells or ramekins. Top with breadcrumbs, dot with butter, sprinkle with paprika. Cook for 15 minutes at 375° or until topping is browned.
Update (2023): The recipe in this post was apparently invented by a woman named Connee Rauser Sheckler, who won a contest with it. It appeared in the “Cooking with Old Bay” cookbook under the name she gave it, “Old Bay Bianca Pizza.” I think I should make this dish again and share a few more of the details given to me by Mrs. Sheckler!
After over a years worth of Old Line Plate recipes, I suppose it’s about time that Old Bay, that icon of Maryland food, makes an appearance. I fully admit that the reason behind this lazy recipe and post is partially because I’m gearing up for CSA season. Also, I feel like I have exhausted the topic of manors and hotels for the time being. I’m hoping to get back towards one of my original aims, which is to talk about the actual food once in awhile.
First of all, I feel it necessary to mention that Old Bay isn’t the only game in town and all of the other crab seasonings are worth a try. J.O. is the most notable as it also dates back to the mid-1940′s and is the one most often used by crab houses.
1959 crab house ad
These seasonings are the grand-child of “kitchen pepper,” customized blends of seasonings that varied from cook-to-cook but generally contained pepper, nutmeg, mace or white pepper, cinnamon and other ‘warm’ spices to the cook’s taste. Aside from the convenience of having the spice blend on-hand, the flavors in the pre-mixed seasoning were believed to benefit from mingling before use.
Mrs. B.C. Howard’s Kitchen Pepper, 50 Years in a Maryland Kitchen
Old Bay Seasoning, developed by German immigrant Gustav Brunn, was named after a famous steamship that operated between Baltimore and Norfolk, VA from 1840 to 1962. That whole tale is on Wikipedia so I won’t belabor it.
“[In 1939], crabs were so plentiful that bars in Baltimore, Maryland, offered them free[citation needed] and salty seasonings like Old Bay were created to encourage patrons to purchase more beverages.” – Wikipedia
Citation needed indeed. Many listings for the price of crabs in the newspapers, a 1938 crab conservation bill, and the knowledge that even a free crab has a cost when you factor in the cleanup all run counter to this fun fact.
1950 ad
But all is not lost. I have a new fun fact to replace it. In 1955, the purveyors of Old Bay, Baltimore Spice Company, were fined $500. Apparently it was illegal to ship salt and pepper mixed together across state lines.
I suppose that law was done away with shortly thereafter as Old Bay really took hold and became a household name in the 1960′s. The seasoning company was then, of course, purchased by McCormick in 1990.
This is one of the more modern recipes to ever appear on Old Line Plate. It comes from an early 1990s charity cookbook called “Developmental Delites.” This book raised money for the “The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Neurodevelopmental Committee” at Franklin Square Hospital. Contributed by nurse Beth Ann Legambi, it is one of two recipes in the book featuring Old Bay.
Nowadays it’s pretty hard to turn your head one way or the other in Baltimore and not have some Old Bay shoved in your face. I tend to believe this is more on the part of advertisements and media than it is the actual people. While it is true that my mother has dutifully provided my California-residing-brother with this necessity, for most Marylanders, Old Bay is a fact of life more than a rabid obsession.
Recipe:
1 12″ pizza crust
2 Teaspoon olive oil
2 Cup picked crab meat, backfin
8 slice cooked and crumbled bacon
1 Tablespoon Old Bay [or other crab -ed] seasoning
1.5 Cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 425°. Place crust onto a greased 12-inch pizza pan. Top with olive oil, crab meat, bacon, Old Bay seasoning and cheese. Bake on lowest oven rack at 425° for 20 minutes or until crust is golden.
Published in 2003, “I Can Cook You Can Cook” may not be the most historic in my collection, but it does offer a snapshot of a Maryland food personality and a time and place from whence it came. (Most cookbooks do, which is why I love them.)
The book itself hearkens to a less “sophisticated” era in cookbooks, in contrast to modern photo-laden coffee-table cookbooks. The recipes are mostly simple weeknight fare.
More importantly, the book serves as a record of its character of an author, Wayne Brokke. While you may not find artfully-composed photos accompanying each recipe, instead the book is peppered with Brokke’s stories and humor.
Beginning in 1978 Brokke operated a restaurant in Federal Hill called.. “The Soup Kitchen” (I know). He later opened a second location in the exciting new 1980 Harborplace development and later branched out into barbeque.
Following the trajectory of Brokke’s restaurants (and eventual advisable name changes) leads to documentation of the vicissitudes of Harborplace since its opening in 1980. Baltimore was abuzz with high hopes for this pocket of commerce. The press followed up occasionally as it experienced seasonal slumps in winter, business turnover and eventual stability.
1980, Baltimore Sun
“Wayne Brokke, proprietor of Wayne’s Bar- B-Que and one of the harbor’s original merchants, told me that Harborplace had experienced ups and downs over the past two decades. After an initial surge of success there was a period, about 10 years ago, when restaurants were closing and things were looking sketchy, he said. But in the past three years business has been on an upswing, he said, and now the harbor is booming – literally. As Brokke spoke, the Pride of Baltimore II fired its cannon, its way of saying good- bye to the crowd on the docks. “ – Rob Kasper, Baltimore Sun, 2000
Most Baltimoreans don’t spend much time in the Harbor, and I don’t actually remember Wayne’s Bar-B-Que. Sun reviews range from considering Wayne Brokke to be a fixture and a culinary master, to dismissing his restaurants for being too “trendy” and his cooking “a joke.” After reading these reviews plus stories about the various lean times and rent hikes, I shared in Brokke’s relief at leaving the industry.
Harborplace ad featuring Wayne Brokke front left
In a Baltimore magazine article he lamented the high rents and unoriginal shopping options left at Harborplace.
“Over the years, what was Baltimore’s main street got turned into just another mall,” says Wayne Brokke, who ran Harborplace eateries, like Wayne’s Bar-B-Que, for 23 years
“In the early going, the Rouse company celebrated the tenants and appreciated how we all put our blood, sweat, and tears in there,” Brokke says. “After a while, they shifted focus more to the bottom line.” – Brennen Jensen, Baltimore Magazine, 2010
According to a 2007 article updating his whereabouts, he was dabbling in commercial acting, real-estate and earning a philosophy degree from UMBC. During the 1990s, Brokke had also done a cooking segment on WBAL-TV. Readers, if you have recordings of this please do share.
Since Wayne Brokke is most famous for his soups – award winning crab soup being foremost- I made a soup recipe that he declared to be a “favorite of Mayor Schafer.” We had some broccoli from the CSA so “Broccoli Crab Soup” seemed as good as any.
I felt some reservation buying crabmeat, considering that I could have simply made this recipe without but I must say that the addition was DELICIOUS. This soup was so good, so wonderfully rich, and the crab flavor spread throughout to really enhance the dish.
As soups often do, it improved the next day. There was no day after that because we ate it all.
Recipe:
1 lb crab meat
4 cups stock
2 Cups half-and-half
1 lb chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 stick of butter
4 oz flour
1 Teaspoon hot sauce
a few drops of Maggi (my addition – optional)
salt
black pepper
Sauté chopped onion in butter with Maggi (if using) until onions are translucent. Add curry powder and garlic and stir to combine. On medium heat, add flour and stir a few minutes until smooth. Gradually add stock, whisking to combine. Bring almost to a boil and stir in broccoli. Cook for 15 minutes. Add half-and-half and bring to a simmer. Stir in hot sauce and add salt and pepper to taste before gently folding in crab meat. Allow to simmer for about 5-10 minutes. Serve hot.
Recipe adapted from “I Can Cook, You Can Cook!” by Wayne Brokke
Crab season is finally in full swing for those of us who cling to the ‘late-summer through Thanksgiving is crab season’ principle. In my opinion, September is a great time to enjoy crabs because the weather is usually amazing, the last of the corn and watermelon are demanding to be eaten, and the frenzy of summer fun times is finally over.
This is the time when you can really kick back and appreciate the crab.
Warning: this post is FULL of my opinions.
First off, let me address southern naysayers who declare that steamed crabs have no flavor. Well, the flavor of a crab comes from the crab, not from all the spice. If I want to enjoy a bunch of spices (and I often do) I will get some cheap shrimp, rice, etc. When I shell out (ha) for crabs I want to taste the succulent crab meat.
Furthermore, I do not like to dip crab in butter for this same reason. Or vinegar! God, I’m getting worked up now… steamed even.
Not many people steam their own crabs anymore. You can get great crabs all steamed up for you at no extra cost, saving the kitchen space demanded by a gigantic pot, keeping your fingers intact, and avoiding the horrors of killing a live animal before your eyes.
Aside from the experience and the excitement of your meal possibly giving you the attack you rightly deserve, the main difference in home-steamed crabs is going to be the seasonings.
I’m not as Old Bay-crazed as advertising directed at me seems to believe – I like J.O., Obrycki’s, all the other crab seasonings… J.O. is the one used by crab houses for the most part. So it is interesting to actually steam some crabs with Old Bay and taste the difference.
Beer versus vinegar: I don’t want to impart any sour taste so I stick with *flat* beer. Vinegar is more popular in places with a history of temperance such as Smith Island.
Live crabs: Don’t submerge them in water but do keep them cool and wet. A wet cardboard box works well. They are prone to escape so watch out, keep the box folded closed. And mind your fingers.
Corn: I like grilled corn but steamed corn is pretty good too, especially when it’s in season and freshly picked.
A
dozen crabs and six ears of corn is a lot for two people but you can scrape
off the extra corn and pick the extra crab meat and put it into your
morning omelet or tomorrow’s soup.
Recipe:
1 dozen live male crabs
1 flat beer
½ cup crab seasoning
Put a can of flat beer and some water in the bottom of a steamer pot, to just below the rack. Put in your live crabs and then season them (that is the part that feels cruel somehow). Turn on the heat and steam for just under a half hour. Crabs will be red and hot.
