A FOOD TRADITION
Chesapeake cuisine
Chesapeake cuisine is centered on the estuary and surrounding communities of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. It combines Indigenous Chesapeake foodways, colonial English influences, African American traditions, and later regional cooking. Blue crab, oysters, fish, corn, tomatoes, beans, pork, and poultry are prominent, with techniques including steaming, roasting, frying, stewing, smoking, and baking. Representative examples include steamed blue crab with spice seasoning, crab cakes, and oyster stew. The cuisine is broader than a single state and is defined by the Chesapeake watershed, its seafood economy, and the cultural traditions of its shores.
Dishes linked to this cuisine
1–7 of 7
Chesapeake soft-shell crab
A whole blue crab harvested just after moulting, when its new shell is tender enough to cook and eat.
Chesapeake steamed blue crabs
Whole Chesapeake Bay blue crabs steamed and served piping hot beneath a coating of regional crab seasoning.
Maryland crab soup
A spicy tomato-based Chesapeake soup combining Maryland crabmeat with a broad mix of farm vegetables and crab seasoning.
Maryland cream of crab soup
A rich Maryland soup of jumbo lump crabmeat in a butter, milk and cream base brightened with lemon and dry sherry.
Maryland fried oysters
A Chesapeake preparation of shucked oysters dredged in seasoned flour and cornstarch, then fried until golden.
Maryland oyster stew
A creamy Chesapeake stew of shucked Maryland oysters, wine or sherry, warm spices, garlic and cream.
Smith Island layer cake
Maryland's state dessert: many thin layers of yellow cake assembled with traditional cooked chocolate icing.
Catalogue preview Cuisine connections may be unreviewed. Regional comparisons include their food references and do not establish the ingredients of a particular meal.