The Food and Drink Issue by Chesapeake Bay Magazine

SPECIAL

EDITION

THE

FOOD DRINK ISSUE

true talbot. true chesapeake.

true

flavors call for our new Restaurant Guide!

Easton • Oxford • St. Michaels • Tilghman Island No matter the season, Talbot County is the Eastern Shore’s culinary hotspot. Explore our coastal towns, fabulous restaurants, and elegant inns. Or bike, kayak, and sail the Chesapeake Bay.

410-770-8000 | TourTalbot.org

THE FOOD

DRINK ISSUE 38

4 6 12 20

FROM THE EDITOR IN A GLASS OF ITS OWN

Vermouth is having a major resurgence. Brennen Jensen talks with the The Wine Collective in Baltimore, who are leading the way.

HAPPY AS A CLAM

Move over, oysters! Robert Gustafson shines a light on the Bay’s other bivalve, the not-so-humble clam.

PIT STOP

What makes Maryland’s one-of-a-kind barbecue such a standout? Rafael Alvarez takes to the streets to find out.

FINDING FIDDLEHEADS, PICKING PAWPAWS

A BOWLFUL OF SOUL

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

There’s wild abundance out your back door, ripe for the picking. Kate Livie shows you how to get started.

Whether you call it yock, yock-a-mein, or any of its other nicknames, Niambi Davis shares why the zesty noodle dish is a cross-cultural celebration of flavor.

Mid-Atlantic winemakers up their art, creating pairings inspired by land and sea. Barbara Noe Kennedy gets the scoop.

UPPER CRUST

There’s nothing as sweet as a neighborhood bakery. Susan Moynihan spotlights some favorites around the region.

COVER PHOTO BY SARA HARRIS

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Three great locations in Oxford, Maryland to service all your boating needs. oxford, md

BACHELOR POINT  410.226.5592 JACK’S POINT  410.226.5105 TOWN CREEK  410.226.0213

Floating docks to 100 ft. at Jack's Pt. & Bachelor Pt.

Boat Building ★ Restoration ★ Repairs Slip Rentals ★ Haul-Outs ★ Dry Storage

On-site custom boat building by Campbell’s Custom Yachts Dealer • Repairs • Service

Full-Service Yacht Brokerage

Campbell’s Yacht Sales

PUBLISHER John Stefancik

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

MANAGING EDITOR Chris Landers

CRUISING EDITOR: Jody Argo Schroath MULTIMEDIA JOURNALIST: Cheryl Costello CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Susan Moynihan EDITORS-AT-LARGE: Wendy Mitman Clarke,

Chris D. Dollar, Ann Levelle, John Page Williams CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rafael Alvarez, Ann Eichenmuller, Robert Gustafson, Mark Hendricks, Marty LeGrand, Kate Livie, Nancy Taylor Robson, Charlie Youngmann

ART DIRECTOR Caroline Foster

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mark L. Atwater, Skip Brown, André Chung, Dan Duffy, Jay Fleming, Austin Green, Jameson Harrington, Mark Hergan, Jill Jasuta, Vince Lupo, K.B. Moore, Will Parson, Caroline Phillips, Tamzin B. Smith, Chris Witzgall

Certified Cummins Dealer

campbellsboatyards.com

Number 10

Meg Walburn Viviano

All the comforts of a full-service marina plus repairs, repowers and refits.

Year-round and transient slips

Volume 51

For info. contact PJ at campbellsyachtsales.com

PRODUCTION MANAGER Patrick Loughrey

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mike Ogar

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & CLIENT EXPERIENCE Krista Pfunder

ADVERTISING

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Michael Kucera m.kucera@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER

Megan Tilley megan@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com PUBLISHER EMERITUS

Richard J. Royer

CIRCULATION

Theresa Sise • 410-263-2662 office@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com CHESAPEAKE BAY MEDIA, LLC CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, John Martino

• 245 FLOATING BOAT SLIPS & FUEL DOCK WITH PUMP-OUT • 30,000 SF OF WATERFRONT OFFICE SPACE • INDOOR & OUTDOOR WATERFRONT DINING • FULL-SERVICE BOAT YARD WITH 25 & 70 TON TRAVEL LIFTS

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

• SLIP HOLDER AMENITIES: POOL, SAUNA, FITNESS CENTER, WIFI & DISCOUNTS • LIBBEY’S COASTAL KITCHEN & COCKTAILS OPENING SPRING 22

The Food Issue 2022

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, Tara Davis 410 Severn Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403 410-263-2662 • fax 410-267-6924

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com EDITORIAL: editor@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com CIRCULATION: circ@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com BILLING: billing@ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Chesapeake Bay Magazine (ISSN0045-656X) (USPS 531-470) is published by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC, 410 Severn Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403. $25.95 per year, 12 issues annually. $7.99 per copy. Periodical postage paid at Annapolis, MD 21403 and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes or corrections for Chesapeake Bay Magazine to 410 Severn Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403. Copyright 2021 by Chesapeake Bay Media, LLC— Printed in the U.S.A.

Escape from the Ordinary

Adventure comes in many forms. Come find yours … From the historic charm of Annapolis along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to the entertainment district of Arundel Mills and beyond, discover all that Annapolis and Anne Arundel County have to offer. CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE AT VISITANNAPOLIS.ORG January/February 2021

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

From the Editor

WHAT’S

COOKING T

hink Chesapeake food and what comes to mind first: crabs, or oysters? Both are delicious, of course, and have had huge impact on life and lifestyle around the Bay. But they are just the scraping the surface of what makes our food culture so intriguing. Take that other bivalve, the clam. Did you know that the largest producer of hard clams in the U.S. is Virginia’s rural Eastern Shore? And that clams are a super food, packed with vitamins B12 and C? Most importantly, they are versatile and tasty, whether steamed, fried or showcased in pasta, pizza or chowder. We asked Robert Gustafson, who lives in ESVA, to investigate why the humble clam is so often overlooked. And then there’s the natural bounty of our land. People were eating well in these parts long before John Smith set sail from England in 1606, and you can go out into the woods today and gather things yourself in the same way. Kate Livie gets you started on finding fiddleheads and more on page 26. Maryland may not be well known for barbecue, but that’s because we call it by another name: pit beef. Rafael Alvarez hit the streets and parking lots in and around Baltimore to find out the origins of this Old Line State original, and got lots of opinions on what makes a standout sandwich from those who love it. (Count me as one of them.) If you’ve never heard of yock, you’re not the only one. This unique dish has its heritage in African American and Chinese cultures, and is known by many names. I first encountered it as Old Sober in New Orleans, where it’s a time-honored hangover remedy, and was fascinated to find that Tidewater Virginia and Cambridge, Md. have their own claim to the dish. Niambi Davis digs in on page 30. But that’s not all. Brennen Jensen discovers an old-world drink that’s having a new-world resurgence, with Baltimore at the forefront. Barbara Noe Kennedy talks to vintners and chefs about how merrior meets terrior in the mid-Atlantic wine scene. And I dug into a tough assignment: visiting neighborhood bakeries around the Bay to see whose breads, scones, and pastries rise above the rest. It’s a tough job, but one I’m happy to take on to showcase the diversity of food and drink available on our shores. Happy eating!

Susan Moynihan Contributing Editor

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge eAWD R-Design

The Smarter XC60. Dynamic plug-in hybrid midsize SUV. Intuitive design details. Google built in. Assisted safety…the reasons why this XC60 is smarter Safety. Convenience. Rugged thanSophistication. ever goes on. And on.V90 And Cross on. The

Country fromAnnapolis Volvo Cars Annapolis. Visit Volvo Cars today to experience your next Volvo.

333 Busch’s Frontage Road • Annapolis, MD 410-349-8800 • VolvoCarsAnnapolis.com

PHOTOS BY SARAH CULVER

uick, what’s your favorite vermouth? Drawing a blank? Can you maybe kinda picture the label? The foreign brand name? Don’t feel bad. Though the fortified and botanically aromatized wine is an ingredient in numerous classic cocktails—think Manhattan and martini—few on these shores give the Italian-born aperitif much thought. It’s always a barroom bridesmaid, never a bride. But the folks at Baltimore’s Wine Collective, an urban winery, tasting room, and pintxos bar, aim to change that. Hold the gin, hold the bourbon— they’re crafting complex and compelling vermouths to enjoy by themselves. “One of the cool things about vermouth is that because it’s wine, spirit, botanicals, and sweetener, it’s kind of a pre-made cocktail,” says Wine Collective cofounder Enrique Pallares, standing amongst the shiny fermentation tanks of his two-year-old operation. “That’s how the Spanish see it, and why they drink so much of it—mostly just on the rocks with orange, olive, and a splash of soda.” While vermouth is still celebrated in Turin, Italy, where distiller Antonio Benedetto Carpano is credited with inventing the beverage in 1786 (for medicinal purposes, initially), it’s gaining newfound popularity across Europe. Ground zero for its appeal is Catalonia, Spain where Barcelona’s gregarious young social set love ir de vermuteo—to go vermouth—and bounce among an ever-expanding array of bars (vermuterias) featuring it. “Spain is exploding with young vermouth brands,” says Pallares, who’s no stranger to far-flung drinking habits from his days as a globetrotting professional polo player. “They’re making traditional stuff and some new experimental stuff. I’ve always loved vermouth and now it’s my passion and goal to bring the vermouth movement to America.” 

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

IN A

GLASS

OF ITS OWN Baltimore’s artisanal vermouths invite stand-alone sipping BY BRENNEN JENSEN

Wine Collective founders Enrique Pallares and John Levenberg

Vermouth is always a barroom bridesmaid, never a bride.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

WHAT GOES IN: BOTANICALS, WINE + SOUL

Wormwood, the powerful bitter herb, is an essential ingredient in vermouth.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

Mason jars filled with a tincture created by steeping botanicals in wine.

High-proof distilled wine from the Baltimore Spirit Company provides the kick.

Herbs used include elderberry, galangal root, Spanish oranges, chamomile, cardamom, juniper berries, clove, and star anise.

Typical fermenting time for vermouth can range from one to four years.

The Wine Collective has a rosé vermouth, called Vermú, out now; a sweet (red) vermouth available by the time you read this; and a dry (white) version slated to hit bar tops in spring. A handful of American wineries have also jumped into the craft vermouth game, and vermouth-featuring bars are starting to pop up in New York. It seems Baltimore, for once, might be ahead of this drinking trend. Of course, with so many ingredients going into each bottle, the challenge is to get the “cocktail” of flavors just right. While the international makers you were probably trying to recall earlier, such as Martini & Rossi and Cinzano, produce the stuff on an industrial scale, for craft makers it’s a painstaking process relying on their talents and their tongues. To explain how Wine Collective creates its vermouth, Pallares ushers me into a barrel-lined side room to

The bottle says it all. Ice + vermu + citrus + bubbles = happiness

tincture created by steeping a botanical in high-proof distilled wine, including cinchona bark, elderberry, thyme, galangal root, Spanish oranges, artichoke leaves, chamomile, cardamom, A salty counterpoint comes from gentian root, juniper various small snacks, from olives, berries, clove, and star pickles, and charcuterie plates to anise. Much of the spirit is tinned seafood. created for them by the Baltimore Spirit Company, a craft distillery literally just down the hall in the Union Collective maker-space facility that beermaker Union Craft Brewing (also in residence) carved out of an empty Sears warehouse in 2018. “In Europe, you cannot make a vermouth without wormwood,” Enrique Pallares says. “In the U.S., there’s really not much of a legal definition for vermouth but I would say that brother and a fellow retired polo vermouth without wormwood is not player), and assistant winemaker Kurtis really vermouth.” Yes, this bitter Flaherty. A table before us sports a herb—Artemisia absinthium—is the dozen or so Mason jars filled with same stuff used in the celebrated spirit liquids of various hues. Each is a meet the vermouth team, including Wine Collective co-founder and chief winemaker John Levenberg, general manager Filipe Pallares (Enrique’s

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Served Barcelona-style with garnish and salty nibbles, vermouth earns its aperitif designation.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

VICTORIA SHES

VERMÚ SPRITZ Refreshing sparkling cocktail

Vermú | Choice of sparkling soda

INGREDIENTS:

Fill a glass with ice. Add 2/3 Vermú, and 1/3 either sparkling water, tonic water, grapefruit soda or sparkling wine. Stir and garnish with a slice of citrus.

And the taste? I try some neat and then Barcelona style, with a little soda and an orange and olive garnish. An orangey sweetness comes first, followed by refreshingly tart acidic notes of the wine and a muted and herbaceous bitterness at the finish. That’s three of the tongue’s five basic tastes right there. The remaining two—

salty and umami—can come from the various nibbles the Spanish like to have alongside it, from humble potato chips through olives, pickles, charcuterie plates, and tinned seafoods. (The Wine Collective’s tasting room menu has you covered with all these options.) Thusly consumed, it earns its aperitif designation: Your tastes buds are given a thorough warm-up. Vermú plays well with others too, as I learn from Brendan Dorr, coowner of the gin-focused bar Dutch Courage in the city’s Old Goucher neighborhood and founder of the Baltimore Bartender’s Guild. “I really love the Wine Collective vermouth,” Dorr writes in response to an email query about it. “Delicious on its own, it is also versatile for complex cocktails and classics like a Negroni.” He mentions a popular warm-weather cocktail they concocted called Fever Dream, made primarily with genever (the original Dutch version of gin) and Vermú. “The malty notes from the genever balanced perfectly with the citrus, floral and bittering botanicals from the Vermú,” Dorr writes. “It’s beautiful!” Brennen Jensen is coauthor of A History Lover’s Guide to Baltimore, and has written for Garden & Gun, NPR, AARP the Magazine, and The Local Palate.

MARIANITO PREPARADO The Basque take on Negroni

Vermú | Campari | Gin | Angostura bitters

INGREDIENTS:

J. ERIC GOINES

absinthe. It seems likely that Signore Carpano was inspired by the botanically infused wines German monks made for centuries; indeed, the word vermouth comes from the German for wormwood, wermut. I take the tiniest taste of the wormwood tincture and find it facecrunchingly, oh-my-God bitter. But it’s a case of a little going a long way. The wormwood is blended with offsetting fruity and sweet tinctures and sugar. And in the end, only a couple of ounces at best of this high-proof botanical stew goes into of bottle of vermouth, the bulk of which is the onsite-made base wine. Enrique Pallares says he previously made vermouths at home (“home” being Casa Carmen, the family’s 6.5-acre vineyard/winery in Kent County, outside Chestertown), including a version with locally foraged black walnuts, but it was a seat-of-the-pants operation. To ramp up and professionalize production, they developed a system where they build the desired flavor profile by combining individual tinctures (as opposed to steeping the botanicals all together), with the quartet tweaking and tastetesting their way to some kind of consensus. Flaherty shows how he uses a microliter pipette, a sort of fancy-pants eyedropper usually seen in science labs, to work with exacting amounts of each fluid. A spreadsheet keeps track of ratios. They sample the mini version until it’s what they want and mathematically scale-up quantities to make a production run of around 800 cases. “I think we went through something like 17 different iterations,” Levenberg says of Vermú. “There’s something different that every person brings to it and that’s what’s fun.” This sense of fun is reflected on the label as well, which depicts a woman wielding a cocktail glass while astride a flamingo and the words: “Earnest with a wink and seriously whimsical.”

Fill an Old Fashioned glass (rocks glass) with ice, fill Vermú to the top. Add a splash of Campari and a splash of gin. Dash with angostura bitters. Garnish with an orange slice.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

SARA HARRIS

Angry Clams at The Shanty in Cape Charles

HAPPY as a CLAM Virginia’s clam fishery is the largest in the nation. Why don’t we hear more about it? BY ROBERT GUSTAFSON

hy is the “world your oyster” but people tell you to “clam up?” There is a double standard at work in the world of bivalves that needs to end so we can begin to truly appreciate the culinary delights of one of the Chesapeake’s most succulent and versatile native species, the hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria). Oysters are delicious and oyster merchants have done a masterful job marketing their product. A mystique has been spun around the oyster that involves provenance, merroir, luxury, gastronomy, libido, and evocative names from Shooting Point Salts to Little Bitches. There is even a Virginia Oyster Trail (virginiaoystertrail.com). 

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

SARA HARRIS

Christian Farlow (foreground) and H.M. Terry owner Pete Terry at work in Willis Wharf.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Nutritional Powerhouse A three-ounce serving of clams Daily Value

Calories

126 2g

Iron

132%

B12

1,401%

Daily selenium*

78%

*Selenium may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.

“The development of high volume, high concentration clam farming opened up a whole new world of recipes and end uses.” - WEC TERRY VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES H.M. TERRY CO., INC

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

SARA HARRIS

Total Fat

The Food Issue 2022

No comparable attention has been paid to the clam. Clams are graded by size and sold in sacks. That’s it. It’s high time the clam gets its due as a co-equal of the oyster—a topquality food product with unique characteristics, outstanding culinary potential, and the ability to increase your IQ by up to 25 points! (I made that last part up, but I suspect the “oysters increase libido” thing is a marketing gimmick, too.) There is a simple explanation why clams have not risen to the pinnacle of Chesapeake cuisine: The small, tender clams marketed today in grocery stores and available atop pasta at restaurants are a relatively new product that have not had centuries to become fully ingrained in our regional foodways. For thousands of years, clams harvested in the Chesapeake and nearby seaside were predominantly

full-sized chowder clams or slightly smaller cherrystones or top necks. These large clams were most easily gathered using the technology of the day: treading with feet, signing (looking for air holes in the sand) then digging with iron rakes, and later dredges. Some smaller clams were caught and eaten, but the bulk of wild-caught clams brought to market were big, tough chowder clams (called quahogs in New England). These big clams are best for traditional (and delicious) recipes like chowder, fritters, and stuffed clams. Too tough to eat whole, they are chopped or minced before serving. But today’s farmed clams are a different kettle of shellfish. “The development of high volume, high concentration clam farming opened up a whole new world of recipes and end uses,” says Wec Terry, vice

“When you are thinking about dinner, clams are such a great choice. They are sustainable and good for the environment. They are so easy to cook.”

Eastern Shore-style chowder from The Great Machipongo Clam Shack in Nassawadox

- HEATHER LUSK FOURTH GENERATION SHELLFISH GROWER

president of sales at H.M. Terry Co., Inc. in Willis Wharf, Va. Much smaller and much more tender, the one-inch middlenecks or 7 /8 -inch littlenecks you see in mesh bags at the seafood counter can be eaten on the half-shell or cooked in myriad ways our grandparents would never have imagined. Virginia clam farmers even sell tiny 5/8 -inch “pasta necks,” harvested specifically to be eaten on linguine. The cultured clam industry in Virginia was an offshoot of the catastrophic oyster die-off of the 1980s caused by dermo disease and the MSX parasite. As oysters became exceedingly scarce, seafood companies like H.M. Terry Co. looked for an alternative product to market. “There was a seafood void that needed to be filled,” confides Terry. In conjunction with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, H.M. Terry Co. and a handful of others on Virginia’s Eastern Shore pioneered the growing of seed clams and the process of planting, protecting, and harvesting marketable clams in the crystal-clear waters of Hog

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

ROBERT GUSTAFSON

Nassawadox’s Great Machipongo Clam Shack has been serving hard clams for more than 25 years.

“Littlenecks—you just pop them in butter. So wonderful, just like popcorn!” - JEAN MARINER CO-OWNER THE GREAT MACHIPONGO CLAM SHACK

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Island Bay, which is designated a United Nations Biosphere Reserve. The result is hundreds of millions of tender, young clams being sold annually by Virginia clam farmers. That enormous volume of tiny clams had never been seen before and literally spawned a new industry. In 2018, Virginia was the numberone U.S. state in hard clam production, generating a value of nearly $39 million compared to just $14.5 million for Virginia oysters. Over half a billion clams were planted in Virginia waters in 2018. Clams are also nutritional powerhouses. A three-ounce serving of clams contains just 126 calories and 2 grams of fat, but 132% of your recommended daily intake of iron, an astronomical 1,401% of your daily required B12, and 78% of your needed daily selenium. (Selenium may help

The Food Issue 2022

prevent Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and certain types of cancer.) “We ask ourselves, who is eating all of these clams,” says Heather Lusk, fourth generation shellfish grower. “On a big day we might be selling 400,000 clams. If so many people are eating them, why don’t they talk about clams like they do oysters? Why are they not getting any love?” “When you are thinking about dinner, clams are such a great choice. They are sustainable and good for the environment. They are so easy to cook. Steam them or put them on pasta. We have developed this whole industry, this whole protein, that is good for the environment,” Lusk adds. There is evidence that clams may even have the potential for merroir, a taste of the waters in which they were grown that is so valued by oyster aficionados. Virginia Sea Grant graduate research fellow Ann Ropp has identified six distinct genetic populations of hard clams on the Eastern seaboard with differences in salt tolerance, growth rates, and shell strength. Why not taste and texture? Maybe a clam can be bred to taste like garlic butter! To enjoy clams, there are few places in the Chesapeake region better than The Great Machipongo Clam Shack in Nassawaddox, Va. The Great Machipongo Clam Shack has been

The World Awaits As we turn the calendar to a new year, we look forward to new opportunities and a renewed optimism for the future. Now is the time to break free, set sail, and enjoy the world in all her splendor once again.

Your next yacht charter escape awaits. M O O RI N G S . C O M | 8 0 0 6 6 9 6 5 2 9

Proud To Be Back On The Bay

B U I L D I N G E X C E P T I O N A L B O AT S S I N C E 1 9 5 2

33T Aventura

Schedule your appointment to see her today at our Annapolis office.

new

•

brokerage

power

•

sail

A n n a p o l i s Ya c h t S a l e s . c o m | 4 1 0 . 2 6 7 . 8 1 8 1 18

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

serving up local hard clams in many delicious ways for over 25 years and is a treasured stopping point for locals as well as travelers from Delaware, New Jersey, and New York heading up and down the East Coast to the Outer Banks. Local clams are available steamed and in homemade creamy chowder. The Clam Shack is also the place to pick up bags of live clams to go for an easy, beachy dinner on your first night at Duck or Corolla. “The whole northern section of the East Coast has their clam shacks and they fry their clams,” says Clam Shack co-owner Jean Mariner. “We would get complaints ‘there are no fried clams.’ But these are not the same clams. We had to educate people about our clams,” she says. “Littlenecks—you just pop them in butter. So wonderful, just like popcorn!” What to drink with clams? Beer may leap to mind, but if we are going to elevate the eating of clams to a fine art, I propose we pop a cork and pair our local clams with outstanding local wines. Mills Wehner at Chatham Vineyards in Machipongo suggests a glass of award-winning Church Creek Steel Fermented Chardonnay with raw, steamed, or fried clams; Oak Chardonnay with chowders and clam dishes involving a rich creamy sauce; and their Church Creek Vintners Blend with clam dishes featuring red sauce. Hard clams are a Chesapeake treasure—delicious, sustainably harvested, versatile in the kitchen, and good for you. Let’s give the hard clam a fresh look, eat them in abundance, and put them in a place of honor in our Chesapeake cuisine.

Robert “Gus” Gustafson lives on the Eastern Shore of Virginia by way of Chicago, Harvard University, and a career on Capitol Hill. In his spare time, he coaches the Broadwater track and field teams and cultivates heirloom vegetables and fruits from the Chesapeake region.

New England v. Manhattan v. Machipongo? I don’t want to inflame the age-old debate over the merits of creamy New England clam chowder versus tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder, but the Eastern Shore of Virginia has its own strong entry in the competition: clear chowder. Traditional clear Eastern Shore clam chowder was one of the first items sold at The Great Machipongo Clam Shack, and is still a big seller whenever it is on the menu.

EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA CLAM CHOWDER (CLEAR BROTH) Courtesy of Jean Mariner, co-owner of The Great Machipongo Clam Shack (recipe slightly modified for home use) INGREDIENTS 1 3

/ lb bacon, chopped small

½ tsp black pepper

4 medium onions, diced

8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 bunch celery, diced 1 tsp thyme 2 bay leaves 1 tsp dried parsley

25-35 live chowder clams, minced with liquor reserved Water

DIRECTIONS 1.

Wash the clams and place them in a large cooking pot. Add 1 inch of water to the pot, cover, and bring to a boil over high heat until the clams have opened and released their liquor. Remove the clam meat from the shells and chop it. Carefully reserve the liquor by pouring it into a bowl, leaving any sand or grit in the pot.

Saute the bacon until crispy over medium-low heat. Remove bacon from the pan, retaining the grease. Saute the onion and celery in the bacon grease over medium heat until soft (about 6 minutes). When the onions and celery are halfway cooked, add the thyme, bay leaves, parsley, and pepper.

Place the bacon, onion, celery, and spices in a large cooking pot. Add the diced potatoes, clams, and reserved clam liquor. Add water (if necessary) to cover the potatoes by a half-inch.

Simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Adjust for salt. The clams and broth are salty so no additional salt may be needed.

Serves 6-8. Recipe can be doubled and leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days. If you are feeling really decadent, small clams may be substituted for the chowder clams.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

PIT

STOP Perfecting Maryland’s iconic beef sandwich is not as simple as it seems

BY RAFAEL ALVAREZ

K PHOTOS BY JIM BURGER

nown throughout the Chesapeake Bay region and closely identified with neighborhoods across Baltimore, pit beef on a bun is either good or bad. There’s no middle ground. When it’s good, it’s very good—nostalgia on a kaiser roll, reminding one of the church hall bull roasts of their youth. If bad, you may be disgusted enough (disappointed is too mild a word) to toss it on the way across the parking lot. “When I find something I like, I stick with it,” says Richard S. McHenry, 59, after his shift at a roofing shingle factory on Ponca Street near Dundalk. A resident of Edgemere, McHenry was enjoying dinner at Chaps, a Pulaski Highway shack synonymous with pit beef since 1987. “I’ve been here many a time.”

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

"When I find something I like, I stick with it.” - RICHARD S. MCHENRY

A provincial treasure of the Old Line State with roots in late 19th century (the turf to the crabcake surf), a pit beef sandwich is simple: a fresh hamburger-sized roll; top or bottom round beef cooked slowly over smoke from the wood of a fruit tree and flame from briquettes; a slice of raw onion; and the condiment of one’s choice, traditionally horseradish and a squirt of barbecue sauce. (If you’re getting mayo on your pit beef—more common than can be fathomed—you might be asked to sit at the far end of the picnic table.) And the meat must be sliced thin—paper thin, with a slicer and not by hand in order to feather the beef two to three inches high on the bun. Easy to produce and easier to screw up. 

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

“It must be sliced thin and moist, and the bread can’t be too hard or fall apart.” - TYRONE CRAWLEY

“It must be sliced thin and moist, and the bread can’t be too hard or fall apart,” says Tyrone Crawley, a retired Social Security Administration systems analyst enjoying a fine repast at Pioneer Pit Beef on the parking lot of a liquor store at the corner of Johnnycake and Rolling Roads in Catonsville. (Rule of thumb: If a pit beef shack is on an asphalt parking lot riddled with potholes and stands within an onion’s throw of a liquor store or a dollar store, chances are it’s the real deal.) Crawley doesn’t live far from Pioneer, just a few miles over the city line. To get there, he drives past at least two other pit beef joints to a yellow shack with the words “Al’s Pit Beef” carved above the window. The

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

“Trimming the beef before cooking is important.” - DARRELL “CRUISER” WOLLSHLEGER

name reportedly belongs to the late Albert Beck, but no one at Pioneer—or anywhere else—knew anything about him. Unlike memorializing true love inside a heart on tree bark, hand-carving the beef is generally frowned upon in favor of electric slicers with especially sharp blades. And while a hint of fat can be tolerated, a bad pit beef sandwich isn’t just dry, cold, or tough, but riddled with gristle. “Trimming the beef before cooking is important,” says Darrell “Cruiser” Wollshleger, owner of Cruiser’s Pit Beef in Sparrows Point, which attracts men and women working various jobs around the long-shuttered Bethlehem Steel. “More important is slicing correctly so if you

But what about the wood? “That’s the secret.” - JESUS CRUZ

do have gristle, it’s very small, thin strips that break down easily." Wollshleger, who has taught the charred-on-the-outside-and-pink-onthe-inside beef game to many who went on to run their own kitchens, says that just slicing the beef thin isn’t the complete answer. “If you cut the beef the wrong way, it can become a sheet of gristle you can’t chew through,” says Wollschlager, a keyboardist who fronts a classic rock band called LTD. “We leave the fat on while it’s cooking to keep the meat nice and moist, but trim it off before slicing.” At Cruiser’s, says Alex Anthony

Dominguez, owner of the Jabali coffee house in Fells Point, he requests “a mix of well done and rare bits” on his sandwich. “It’s not fancy but classic Baltimore to drive past the port and the old steel mill.” Okay, beef and bun, rare and burnt, and your choice of how to dress the beauty. But what about the wood? “That’s the secret,” according to Jesus Cruz, manager of Pioneer, which has changed hands several times in the past 40 years. Cruz arrived in Baltimore from El Salvador when he was a teenager. Back home, the traditional foods include papusa (flat bread stuffed with a range of goodies) and

If a pit beef shack is on an asphalt parking lot riddled with potholes and stands within an onion’s throw of a liquor store or a dollar store, chances are it’s the real deal.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Where’s the Beef? Who has Maryland’s best pit beef? That’s an entirely personal choice. Pioneer Pit Beef in Catonsville and Chaps Pit Beef (with six locations, including Baltimore, Aberdeen, Glen Burnie) are probably the best known, but here are 10 more standout spots to try as you taste your way around the state. BAYSIDE BULL 108 Central Avenue, Edgewater THE CANOPY 9319 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City CRUISER'S PIT BEEF 2349 Ruth Avenue, Sparrows Point EXPRESSWAY PIT BEEF 8388 Piney Orchard Parkway, Odenton

"I put the wood chips on top of the briquettes and cook with the smoke, not the flame." - ERIC JORDAN

HOT OFF THE COALS 8356 Ocean Gateway, Easton JAKE’S GRILL 11950 Falls Road, Cockeysville PIT BOYS 1515 Forest Drive, Annapolis SMOKIN’ JOES 2102 Merritt Avenue, Dundalk TAYLOR’S BBQ 720 E College Avenue, Salisbury WEST RIVER PIT 5544 Muddy Pit Road, West River

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

fried yuca. “We don’t have anything in Central America like pit beef.” "Yep," agrees Eric Jordan, wood is key, whether cut up logs or chips. An independent, Jordan and his wife, Andrea, a nurse, haul their grill and smoker to private parties, church events, football tailgating, and other celebrations under the name Noble Choice Catering. They work out of their home in Catonsville (an area with a cluster of pit beef outlets) and use the kitchen of a local Knights of Columbus hall to prep for gigs. “I put the wood chips on top of the briquettes and cook with the

smoke, not the flame. The smoke gives it the flavor,” says Jordan, who uses cherry or hickory chips (a quarter-of-acord for about $50) and Royal Oak hardwood lump charcoal. “Some people use apple wood.” Jordan, 50, is an assistant manager at Bare Bones Grill in Ellicott City and has spent most of his life in the food and restaurant business. He began doing pit beef for friends and family about 20 years ago. Andrea handles the books and the reams of paperwork it takes to legally sell food in Maryland. Over the years, it has grown into much more than a hobby—to the point

where he recently had to buy a new, Amish-made Meadow Creek grill for $2,000 in Lancaster County, Pa. “The bottom fell out of the old one,” he says.

here are at least two-dozen places to get a pit beef sandwich in metro Baltimore, with others on the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland. If you’re looking for one, don’t search for “barbecue” for it is neither brisket nor ribs nor pulled this or shaved that. Pit beef—which evolved from the bull and oyster roasts of yore that used to reside in many an old shopping center—is a distinct entity unto itself. In a lengthy story on pit beef published in The Local Palate, Baltimore journalist (and CBM contributor) Brennen Jensen reports that the term “bull roast” appeared in The Sun “as far back as 1882.” The article spotlights the work of the late caterer John F. Langenfelder, who worked with several of his sons and is credited with spreading the popularity of the sandwich. In 1966, “John F.” catered a $4.75, all-you-can-eat bull roast at the Alcazar Hotel in Baltimore, offering what we now call pit beef. It is also accepted tradition that a Langenfelder event beyond the outfield fence at the forever-mourned Memorial Stadium caught the attention of Boog Powell during a game. The aroma stayed with the big first baseman and, it’s said, led to his successful stand at Camden Yards. According to Jensen, the phrase “pit beef” shows up in an ad for a bar for the first time around 1968—a year after the debut of the Fells Point Fun Festival, which traditionally features pit beef. The Fells Point festival began as a fundraiser to fight government plans to run an interstate highway through the waterfront neighborhood, along with parts of Federal Hill. Bull roasts continue to serve as fundraisers for community causes, from volunteer fire

“I’m here just about seven days a week. You’ve got to make sure everything is running right.” - FERN KREIS

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

“You’ll be driving along and think, ‘Man, I haven’t had a pit beef sandwich in two weeks.’”

houses like the one in Hereford (“famous pit beef”) to whatever politician is promising voters the moon, the stars, and savory red meat in the dog days of August. Can it be possible that they’re all Baltimore’s Best, as widely claimed? You and your wallet (good or bad, a pit beef with a soft drink goes for about $10 most places) must judge. Like the scores of eateries specializing in crabcakes, everyone has their favorite to celebrate occasions as simple as, “haven’t seen you in awhile…” Baltimorean Kyle Pike was keen on a place near BWI, “a gas station in Ferndale with insane pit beef. Roseda Farm in Monkton had the best pit beef I ever had. My mainstay now is Charcoal Deli on Old Harford Road.” And the good doctor Daniel R. Howard, a West Baltimore neighborhood physician who still makes house calls, prescribes “the guys

- JOE ASBERRY

on the north side of Franklin Street just past the [abandoned interstate] highway to nowhere. I’ve heard they’re good…” On and on and on, with the best advertisement in the world the same scent that sustained the caveman: meat over an open flame. There is Big Falls Inn in Joppatowne (proclaiming “there is no fire without smoke”); Smokin’ Joe’s in Dundalk; Hot off the Coals on the Eastern Shore in Easton; Big Fat Daddy’s in Rosedale; 700 South in Linthicum; and Jake’s Grill in Cockeysville, where all female

PUSSER’S CARIBBEAN GRILLE

Waterfront Dining At It’s Best

Visit us for our award-winning menu, daily specials, happy hour on the dock bar, world famous Painkiller® cocktails and plenty of fun! 410.626.0004

Scan to see our menus

PussersAnnapolis.com next to the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

customers get a complimentary flower with their sandwich. And don’t let the name Heavenly Hot Dog fool you; the stand at the Northeast Market near Johns Hopkins Hospital has a strong following for pit beef. Beefalo Bob’s in Pasadena offers three-buck doggy bags of gristle, day-old ends, and odd cuts. Regular customer Keith McDonald, 26, says he always picks one up to treat his pit bulls and rottweilers. “My earliest pit beef memories are coming right here with my Dad when I was a teenager,” adds McDonald. “Too many places either burn it or there’s too much gristle.” If this were the Academy Awards of all things beef, now would be the moment where the music starts playing before the winners have a chance to acknowledge everyone. So don’t forget The Firehouse (not a real one) near Pigtown before and after Ravens home games; Wild Wolf’s Beef Shack in Arbutus; and The Canopy in Ellicott City, established 1985. How does Canopy co-owner Fern Kreis stay ahead of the competition? Pretty much like everyone else. “I’m here just about seven days a week,” says Kreis, 60. “You’ve got to make sure everything is running right.” Columbia resident Joe Asberry sells commercial HVAC units and eats out a lot. When home, he patronizes Bullhead Pit Beef on Berger Road. Often on the road, he’ll pop in to just about any place with a sign for pit beef. “It’s a craving,” he says. “You’ll be driving along and think, ‘Man, I haven’t had a pit beef sandwich in two weeks.’” Rafael Alvarez’s first memory of pit beef is one of the early Fells Point Fun Festivals in the late 1960s, the same year “Little Ralphie” first glimpsed Divine and posse hanging out near his father’s tugboats in front of the Broadway Recreation Pier. Like all things authentically Baltimore— pit beef, home movies, and family—he will never forget any of it.

Looking for the perfect finish to a great day? Our Housemade pastas are made with 100% semolina flour, and are hand crafted daily by our culinary team. Highlighting unique and seasonal ingredients, our pastas are designed to thrill as well as satisfy. Come try the best of what the season has to offer at Blackwall Hitch Annapolis.

400 Sixth Street, Annapolis, MD (410) 263-3454 BlackwallHitchAnnapolis.com

HERRINGTON HARBOUR SOUTH 7149 Lake Shore Drive North Beach, MD 301.855.5000

HERRINGTON HARBOUR NORTH 389 Deale Road Tracey’s Landing, MD 410.867.4343

Beltway to Bliss in 20 Minutes Discover it all at Herringtonharbour.com

Chesapeake Foraging for Beginners

FINDING

FIDDLEHEADS, PICKING

PAWPAWS B Y K AT E L I V I E

n fine Sundays, when the church doors swing open and the faithful stream

inside, my husband and I are lacing up our boots and hustling the dogs into the backseat of the car to attend services at our own “church.” We find fellowship and peace in the great hardwood cathedrals of the Eastern Shore on these Sunday walks. For us, god’s in the marshes and the eagles whistling above the canopy. ILLUSTRATIONS BY CASS GRAYBEAL BROWN FOR CHESAPEAKE BAY MAGAZINE

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

SPRING FIDDLEHEADS Late April is the best time to gather fiddleheads. Fresh, green, and firm, they explode with the flavors of new growth and spring rain. They are an easy foraging starter for the curious but slightly lazy—lots of fiddleheads can be found just past ditches along wooded roads or farm lanes where the greenbriar gives up to the shade of the deeper forest. The key is to know what kind to look for. Not all ferns are edible, so keep your eye out for ostrich ferns in particular. The tightly-curled fiddleheads of the ostrich fern are about an inch across. The stems have a distinctive brown, papery scale on the outside and a deep groove running up the inside. Once you’ve spotted a patch, dive in with scissors or shears to snip an inch or so below the tight coil (not too much, since you want the fern

to keep growing). Harvest as many as you like—the season for fiddleheads is short and once you’ve tried them, you’ll be missing them for the rest of the year. At home, rinse your fiddleheads, keep them cool, and treat them like asparagus. I like to lightly saute my bounty in white wine, olive oil, and garlic before marrying them to fettuccine with a little pasta water and a healthy handful of fresh parmesan. Salt, pepper, a glass of crisp white to wash it all down with, and truly you have a feast.

SUMMER WINEBERRIES The hottest cicada days of July are wineberry season. The feeling I have for these invasive delectables is—if you can’t beat ’em, eat ’em. Unlike blackberries, which ripen slightly later and prefer sunny banks and edges, wineberries are happiest with a little shade and wet feet, precisely the conditions you’re likely to crave when the dogs days are upon us. Wineberries were introduced from east Asia in 1890, in a hubristic attempt to provide breeding stock for native raspberry cultivars gone awry. This fact gives me great pleasure in picking them, as I tell myself I am playing a critical role in managing the population. They are distinctive for their long canes and red, hairy stems that form thickets up to chest height. The fruits look like raspberries but substitute their signature jammy richness for a lighter, tarter flavor. When ripe, wineberries take on a

KATE LIVIE

These rambles in all seasons turn up treasures, too. Seaglass and sometimes arrowheads, but mostly ripe pickings of the hedgerows and understory to stash in a pocket for later. Foraging seems too fancy a word for these opportunistic harvests. Tender fiddleheads, sour wineberries, hard green pawpaws find their way into our packs and our mouths. They get prepared in dishes at home or just enjoyed as is, no need to overshadow their bright flavors with too much fuss. Maybe these morsels are our version of communion. But maybe they are just how we casually observe and celebrate the abundance of the Chesapeake—a small, perfect blessing anyone who heads out into the Bay’s fields and woods is welcome to discover there.

Fresh, green, and firm, they explode with the flavors of new growth and spring rain.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

KATE LIVIE

When ripe, wineberries take on a deep ruby red color and can be easily plucked from the receptacle in their core.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

deep ruby red color and can be easily plucked from the receptacle in their core. Wineberry season is also black fly season, poison ivy season, and chigger season. Which means it is also long-pants-tucked-into-socksand-Backwoods-OFF-season. No matter. Swatting and itching are small prices to pay in my quest for an overflowing bucket of the good stuff. Berry picking is meditative and once I hit pay dirt I have a hard time walking away. Two berries, three in my grasp, pluck to leave the soft green cores behind, dropped into my bucket soft and heavy with juice. And again. Once my booty is home I almost never eat wineberries straight. They are too tart. I normally like them blended with vanilla greek yogurt and frozen for popsicles. But maybe the best way to enjoy them is to pair them with pastry. My friend Lydia came over one night and used all of my wineberries to make a galette. She just piled the wineberries into some pre-made pie crust, liberally sprinkled sugar over them and added a little cornstarch, and then folded the crust back over a bit into a free-form tart shape. Baked in the oven on 375 degrees for 20 minutes or so on a sheet of parchment paper, the wineberries dissolved into the most decadent, lush jam that ran over the edges and pooled around the crust. We could hardly keep our hands off it long enough to cool. Sliced into wedges and eaten on the front porch while we watched fireflies, it tasted like life and summer and the Eastern Shore, all at once.

FALL PAWPAWS Pawpaws are a primordial fruit. Grown on trees in the understory of deep forest canopies, they were adapted to be consumed and spread by the megafauna of the last ice age. Three to six inches long with several large brown seeds inside, pawpaws are the largest fruit native to North America. It isn’t hard to imagine the giant sloths or mammoths that might have first plucked these tropical-tasting delicacies. The flavor (mango taste, avocado consistency) is surprising, because these “custard apples” don’t look like much. Greenish-blackish on the outside, a perfect camouflage with the shadiest part of the woods, pawpaws are easy to overlook. The best solution is to scout a patch of pawpaws early in the season (maybe July, once their foliage is in full leaf) and return to check for fruit in late September. Pawpaws are thin, small trees that only grow to a height of about 15-feet maximum. For their size, their leaves are distinctively large—some of the biggest tree leaves in North America. Look for large, oblong-shaped 12-inch leaves with smooth edges in clusters. Pawpaws grow in patches, so where you find one, you’ll usually find more. Once you’ve picked your pawpaw patch and found your fruit, it’s time to harvest. Pawpaws have a very short (blink and you missed it) period of ripeness, so skip the fruit that has already fallen to the ground. Instead, pick a fruit directly from the tree. Pawpaws close to ripeness will be firm with a slight give. Leave the truly hard ones behind for the birds. Pawpaws bruise easily but never fear—black spots are fine. Eat them anyway. There is really no way to gracefully eat a pawpaw, so expect to embrace your inner Neanderthal and

ALAN WOLF

just dig in. I like to slice mine open with a knife and use a spoon to scrape around the big seeds inside. Pawpaws are perfect without any additions or cooking needed, so enjoy the soft, bright yellow flesh unadulterated, the way your friendly megafauna might have. As you eat your foraged pawpaw, think of that ancient Chesapeake when cypress swamps and uplands were the domain and sustenance of the Earth’s last, great monsters. Kate Livie is a Chesapeake writer, educator, and historian. An Eastern Shore native and current faculty at Washington College’s Center for Environment and Society, Livie’s award-winning book Chesapeake Oysters was published in 2015.

Foraging has become a lot more popular, and there are plenty of resources for those of us that are willing to literally beat the bushes for our dinner. INSTAGRAM One of my favorite accounts on Instagram is Alexis Nikole, who goes under the handle @blackforager. She is always documenting her adventures in foraging (often in suburban or urban locations) and sharing information about the different plants and how to creatively cook them. Her upbeat approach and thrill of discovery makes all of her posts fun to read. FACEBOOK Facebook has a lot of Chesapeake-focused foraging groups. I recommend joining “Maryland Mushrooms and

Mycology” if you are interested in finding morels, hen-ofthe-woods, or other kinds of local mushrooms. Questions, good locations, and fungi ID are always in discussion and the group is a great resource for anyone interested in doing a little mushroom hunting. PRINT Euell Gibbons’ classic book, Stalking the Wild Asparagus, is basically a foraging bible. Beautifully written in 1962 (American essayist John McPhee was a fan), the book has been continuously in print since, and you’ll find it entertaining as well as helpful.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

OMNIVORESCOOKBOOK.COM

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com 32

The Food Issue 2022

A BOWLFUL OF

SOUL Taste centuries of cross-cultural traditions in a single bowl of yock BY NIAMBI DAVIS

ock—this peculiar name is attached to history, culture, tradition, and big flavors. It’s a delicious bowl or carry-out box filled to the brim with tangy, spicy noodles, broth, soy sauce, meat (sometimes shrimp), and a hard-boiled egg topped with chopped onions. Variations of its basic ingredients (and spellings) are found as far away as Canada and as close as Maryland and Virginia. In New Orleans, the culinary second-line staple is known as yaka mein or Old Sober (for its ability to loosen the grip of the previous night’s revelry). In Baltimore it’s sold in Chinese restaurants as yat gaw mein. Tidewater Virginia restaurants sell it as a box of yock, which translates loosely to a box of noodles. In Cambridge on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, it’s simply known as yock. The provenance of this dish is as varied as its many phonetic spellings and ingredients. New Orleans history traces yaka mein to the arrival of Chinese immigrants. Food historians attribute its Virginia origins to the state’s segregation laws that prevented Chinese restaurants from opening anywhere but in African American communities. Chef Will Leung-Richardson of Richmond’s KudzuRVA agrees. “Those circumstances created a dish that bounced back and forth between the African American and Asian communities,” he says. “The result was a culinary fusion that would have not otherwise come together. As someone who is half Cantonese, half Virginian, yock is a point of pride for me. I believe that yock has a history that deserves

to be recognized. Culturally and socially, yock has the power to bridge more gaps than ever before.” Chef Will’s connection to yock is firsthand. He grew up in Chesterfield, Va., where his grandparents owned the Moon Gate I. “I’d get off the bus after school and go to the restaurant. If I didn’t have a cheeseburger or sweet and sour pork, it would be a bowl of yock.” At the same time it was a staple in African American soul food restaurants, alongside fried chicken, pork chops, and ribs. Yock as the centerpiece of African American church fundraising dinners may be the best example of this unique blending of food, history, and culture. Where outsiders might expect the traditional chicken or fish with a side of greens and macaroni and cheese, a box of yock stands that notion on its head. Instead, patrons get a box of Tidewater lo mein noodles with chicken, pork, shrimp, or even sausage. In 2014, The Southern Foodways Alliance, part of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, published an oral history interview with the culinary staff of the Tabernacle Christian Church in Suffolk, Va. Their yock was always in such demand that people called in, lined up, and travelled from all over to purchase a box from the church’s kitchen. With one-day sales of nearly 300 boxes, it’s no wonder yock deserves the description of Chinese soul food. Right off the Choptank River in Cambridge, Md., Victoria Taylor, Executive Director of Groove City Black

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Boston Whaler ’s Largest Independent Dealership

NEW OWNERS OF

CEDAR POINT MARINA ON KENT NARROWS

HARBOUR COVE MARINA FAMILY OWNED & FAMILY FRIENDLY SINCE 1992

STORAGE, SERVICE & 2022 SLIPS AVAILABLE!

FULL-SERVICE MARINA * * * * * * * * * *

Best Kept Secret on the Chesapeake Bay!

Boatel & Wet Slips On Demand Launch Free Wi-Fi Pool & Picnic Area Kid, Pet & Family Friendly Fuel, Ice & Pump Out High & Dry Storage 24 Hour Security Mechanics On Site Certified Mercury Outboard Dealer

5910 VACATION LANE, DEALE, MD 20751 - WWW.HARBOURCOVE.COM - 301.261.9500

Heritage and Cultural Group, shares her past and present put-down from purists everywhere: “That’s not yock.” experiences with yock. “Back in the day, most people These defenders of tradition can be very picky about their cooked it at home.” Or bought it from a man nicknamed regional dish—the ingredients and “the hands that prepared Florida Boy, who cooked the dish and sold it out of his it” are of equal importance. Chef Will can relate. “I’ve been house. “It was always available,” Ms. Taylor recalls. “We told that my version isn’t authentic,” he says. He describes it don’t know if he was from Florida or Jamaica, but he as an elevated, even a little “bougie” version of the definitely wasn’t from Cambridge.” When Streeters Bar and traditional dish, but still a tribute to the original flavors. Club was in business, yock was always on the menu. Florida Instead of spaghetti, he uses a higher quality noodle and a Boy and Streeters were tied for the best yock in town. soy sauce whose ingredients will forever remain secret. As far as Ms. Taylor It still retains the traditional knows, Cambridge yock has elements of soy, ketchup, and no Asian connection, nor is it chopped onion but can be similar in taste to Baltimore’s customized to taste with the yat gaw mein. On a trip to the option of Creole seasoning or city she sampled the version different hot sauces. And offered in a Pennsylvania unlike other yock creators, Avenue Chinese restaurant. “It “we use a soft-boiled egg.” was made with thick noodles, Although KudzuRVA’s menu spring onions, a brown sauce changes almost weekly, with soy sauce, and no tomato they do run a version of yock base—it had a totally different fairly regularly. taste.” Cambridge yock, she Greg Shia’s Norfolk Yock says, is made from spaghetti Nook customers can relate. noodles, tomato-based sauce, “What are you cooking soy, and sometimes today?” It’s the first question Worcestershire sauce. Added asked when they call or to the mix is a choice of meat, show up at the building at a squirt of ketchup, some 2400 Florida Avenue. Shia’s onions, and a hard-boiled egg foray into the culinary world to top off the dish. It is followed a career in seasoned with salt and pepper, international banking and hot sauce, and tomato sauce the purchase of what had on top. Ms. Taylor’s own menu once been the Norfolk of chicken and pork yock now Noodle Company, since then “I believe that yock has includes a vegan version. renamed Fiber Foods. Not a history that deserves “We’re well known for our only did Shia continue the yock,” Ms. Taylor says. “People manufacture of yock, ramen, to be recognized.” come from nearby towns to and wonton wrappers for - CHEF WILL LEUNG-RICHARDSON buy from us.” national and international Although the dish is trade (including Tidewater unavailable in local restaurants, the home cooked, word-ofcreators of yock and local Asian restaurants), he began to mouth tradition of Florida Boy and his fellow creators still cook. Instead of creating a traditional Tidewater yock, he exists. In this era, the word is spread via Facebook, decided to “try my own way.” Instagram, and text messages with a few simple words: The Yock Nook, a cash-only, small seating area located “We’re cooking yock. Pre-order by messenger.” In fact, yock in a corner of his manufacturing plant, was born of the culture is so strong in Cambridge that a cook-off became desire to discover how his way would be received. Just part of the city’s 2018 Groove City Cultural Festival. Out of five don’t expect ketchup in any of Shia’s dishes. His is made contestants, Karen Camper, Vicky Johnson, and Ms. Taylor more from a soup base and a hot spicy noodle bowl that were named the top three winners. includes his blend of soy sauce, along with meat, chicken, “Some people try to make it from taste,” she says. The and vegetables. results are often met with the universal, three-word “The hot and spicy broad noodles are very popular,”

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Relax & Enjoy

Lovely waterviews and gorgeous sunsets in a quiet marina setting, just minutes from the best fishing and cruising the Chesapeake Bay has to offer.

KNAPP’S NARROWS DREDGED

800-322-5181 • www.KNAPPSNARROWSMARINA.com

TRANSIENT GROUPS WELCOME

Now leasing wet slips morningstarmarinas.com | 757-690-2627

he says, adding that New Orleans yaka mein is most similar to his creations. As a side dish, Shia offers “beef bunnies,” meat-filled wonton wrappers whose tops are tied together to resemble bunny ears. The Yock Nock is seasonal, so check before you go. Potential summertime customers should know that Greg Shia hates flies. When the weather warms up and the buzzing begins, he stops cooking. If your taste buds have been piqued, try some of these flavor combinations at home. With simple ingredients to build a dish, it’s hard to go wrong. If your happy place is at the intersection of food history and memorabilia, go on the

hunt for a copy of La Choy’s 1935 cookbook and its recipe for Yet-Ca-Mein. If you’re looking for a thoroughly modern version, try Food Lion’s Tidewater Virginia recipe at foodlion.com/recipes/tidewater-virginia-yock-a-mein. KudzuRVA keeps their schedule up to date on Facebook, and Groove City Culture Fest’s website and Facebook page are other great resources for Cambridge events.

Niambi Davis was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and takes every opportunity to share her love of the Land of Pleasant Living through words and pictures.

CHEF WILL’S RECIPE FOR YOCK AT HOME This base recipe only takes about 2 hours in a pressure cooker (should you decide to make your own broth) or as little as 20 or 30 minutes if you use store bought. The best thing about this recipe is that it can be made with any kind of broth, from beef to vegetable, and you can incorporate any proteins and vegetables you choose.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Yock Broth* INGREDIENTS 1 whole 4 lb chicken, w/neck and giblets removed 1 bunch spring onions, white parts only 2 small cloves garlic 1 piece ginger, approximately 1 Tbsp worth PROCEDURE Place all ingredients in pressure cooker and fill with 3.5 quarts water, or to just under the max line on a 6-quart pressure cooker. Cook on manual pressure (high setting) for 1.5 hours and slow release. *If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can place all ingredients into a stock pot with the same amount of water and simmer at medium low for 3.5 to 4 hours.

Building your bowl We prefer specially made yock noodles from Fiber Noodles in Norfolk (www.fiber-foods.com), a family owned noodle company that’s been making noodles for almost 100 years. However, any noodle from spaghetti to ramen can be used. 1.

Cook noodles per package instructions, approximately 6 oz per portion cooked. Place into bowl.

If using our pressure cooker broth recipe, strain broth once pressure is adequately released. (Please

follow all pressure cooker safety procedures.) If using store-bought broth, heat up approximately 1.5 cups per portion of cooked noodles. Carefully pour over noodles, and add chicken as preferred. 3.

Next come the flavors. Soy sauce is the foundation. Typical yock includes apple cider vinegar, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and ketchup. Mix yours to taste.

The version we serve at Kudzu has included toppings like collard greens, pulled pork, cracklins, even Virginia peanuts. At home, we use whatever we have on hand: meat pulled from a whole roasted chicken, scallions (vidalia or sweet onions are great, too!), togarashi (a Japanese ground chili and sesame seed blend), a soft-boiled egg (hard boiled is also common), and Crystal hot sauce.

Using this recipe as a guide, you can satisfy that yock craving right at home any night of the week. Cheers and enjoy!

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

GRAPE

EXPECTATIONS Local wineries step up to the plate BY BARBARA NOE KENNEDY

n the briny, breezy climate of the Chesapeake Bay, land of abundant oysters and crabs, Chesapeake food and wines seem to be a natural pairing. Indeed, vineyards burgeon on the Chesapeake’s shores, and no doubt the wine and food evolved hand-in-hand, right? Nothing, of course, is so simple. In fact, although colonists living around the Chesapeake first started making wine in the 1600s, winemaking was pretty much a failure until relatively recently.

SARA HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Chatham Vineyards produces both oak-aged and unoaked chardonnays.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

have said no, that’s not a consideration, and others have said that it’s simply a matter of personal taste. That said, there are a bevy of Chesapeake wineries that do indeed consider the local cuisine as a way of enhancing their wines—and it’s a very exciting thing. Let’s start with the most obvious—wine and oysters. Chesapeake oysters have, of course, been harvested for generations, with diverse distinctive flavors ranging from salty to sweet and buttery to briny. 

ADAM JAIME/UNSPLASH

“Good wine was not being made in this area 20 years ago, except [by] a handful of people,” says Chef Patrick “Opie” Crooks, who taps into Chesapeake Bay producers and winemakers for his hyper local menu at Line DC’s No Goodbyes. “Maybe about 15 years ago is when it started happening.” So where do we stand now, with the marriage of Chesapeake wines and cuisine? Is it something modern-day Chesapeake winemakers even consider, how their wines mesh with local flavors? Do they factor it into their grape-growing? Some winemakers

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

ISAIAH WESTHOFF LOTTE BOWIE. LOBLOLLY PRODUCTIONS

Above and right: At Dog and Oyster, the wine pairing is in the name.

Crow Vineyard’s sauvignon blanc and oysters

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Irvington, Va., near where the Rappahannock River feeds into the Chesapeake, was established ten years ago to produce bracing white wines that pair expressly with oysters. “Growing grapes on land next to the water where oysters were grown—the terroir of our grapes matches perfectly with the merroir of the oysters,” says Dudley Patteson, the vineyard’s co-owner with his wife, Peggy (though they recently sold the land back to the original owners, keeping the brand and business and starting a micro-vineyard at their Hope and Glory Inn). “The taste of the grape and the wine is the same as the oyster.” Their wines are fittingly called Oyster White, a chardonel (a late ripening, white-wine hybrid grape), and Pearl, made from vidal blanc. “They are dry white wines,” Patteson says. “If you take a sip of dry white wine and put an oyster in your mouth after, the flavors of the oyster pops because of the way the wine coats your palate, and how your palate reacts to the sweetness or salinity of a given oyster.” The family-run Chatham Vineyards, overlooking Church Creek on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, began growing wine 22 years ago, and they, too, celebrate the wine and oyster combo. “We’re surrounded by water,” co-owner Mills Wehner says, “and something happened along the way. Not the wine-making process, but we obtained a raising awareness of how the wine and food are grown together, the idea of how oysters reflect the merroir, which parlays to terroir, where the grapes are grown.” Their unoaked chardonnay is “expressive of the site and vintage,” Wehner says. “It’s a light touch in terms of wine-making. There’s a lot of minerality. Our soil is uniform across the whole farm. There’s not a lot of

LOTTE BOWIE. LOBLOLLY PRODUCTIONS LOTTE BOWIE. LOBLOLLY PRODUCTIONS

Top to bottom: Crow Vineyard raises grass-fed Angus cattle, and make a Barbera red and rose to pair with steaks and burgers.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

INGLESIDE VINEYARD

ALLISON LUZIER COURTESY PHOTO

Above: Virginia’s Ingleside Vineyards grows grapes on a century-old farm in Oak Grove and produces multiple awardwinning varietals.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

diversity. It’s a coastal, flat American Viticulture Area, with ancient shell in the soil. You can taste that the wine and oysters are grown together.” Ingleside Vineyards, on Virginia’s Northern Neck, produces the awardwinning Chesapeake series of five wines designed to complement regional foods. “When we produce wines, we think about foods that they go well with,” says Chris Flemer, Ingleside’s marketing manager. Their Coastal White label, for example, is a dry chardonnay showing a crisp and clean acidity. “We do a stainless-steel chardonnay because we don’t want the

oak to overpower the seafood. It’s great with raw oysters,” he says. But it’s not all about oysters and whites. Crow Vineyard, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore between Chestertown and Chesapeake City, started as a third-generation family farm and diversified 12 years ago into wine. “We grew grass-fed angus beef,” co-owner Judy Crow says. “We chose a grape that we thought would pair nicely with that beef. Barbera is known in Italy as a farmer’s wine. So we’re like, okay, we want to plant that grape. That’s how we got going. And we took it to the next level with local food.”

SARA HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Left and below: Chatham Vineyards creates seven varieties of wine, designed to pair with local ingredients.

SARA HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Crow makes a sauvignon blanc that pairs nicely with oysters. But they also do a couple of different Frenchstyle sparkling wines that pair with local chocolates. “We partnered with Kilby Cream in Rising Sun,” Crow says, “and created a rosé ice cream that has a vanilla base with rose wine and chocolate chunks and bing cherries.” Chatham makes a dry, fruitforward, Provence-style rosé. “It’s lovely with seafood with natural sweetness, like blue crab and shrimp,” Wehner says. She also describes the diversity of foods on the Eastern Shore, and the thrilling possibilities for wine pairings. “There’s a sweet potato grown only on the Eastern Shore, with a rich, white flesh,” she says, speaking of the heirloom Hayman sweet potato. “That’s a rich ingredient that ends up nicely pairing with merlot or cabernet franc. The wild game here, too, goes well with our reds.” Although the unspoken rule is that reds do not go with seafood, Ingleside produces the Bordeaux-style Coastal Red that does. “It can accommodate seafood because it’s medium bodied,” Flemer says. “It’s a really enjoyable wine that can be paired with fish, fried food, as well as local meats and game, cheeses, even pasta with red sauce.” On the restaurant side, Chef Opie says of course local wines are part of his Mid-Atlantic-driven menu. “It’s like when you’re eating in France, you drink wine produced close to that area. Having food and wine of a place is very special. Strength is in the area.” That fact is reflected in his menu. “For example, right now,” he says, “we have a braised beef dish that I love with Jon’s [Wehner] cab franc from Chatham. Obviously, he has a chardonnay that’s delicious with oysters and fish and shellfish of all kinds.” There’s another exciting aspect to local wine and food pairing, and that’s sustainability. 

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

LOTTE BOWIE. LOBLOLLY PRODUCTIONS

SARA HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

“We think a lot about how to support our local neighbor farmers and their products, and how to bring together our wines and their products,” Crow says. “We make the wine and think about the food, and then we celebrate it with the pairing of food and showcase it so others understand.” Chatham, too, is devoted to supporting regional products. “We are now one of only two vineyards on the Eastern Shore,” Wehner says, who also is very involved with the Eastern Shore of Virginia Foodways Group, a nonprofit that celebrates local ingredients, traditional dishes, and culinary innovation. “A long time ago, we

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

Left and below: Crow rose; bottom left: a tasting at Chatham Vineyards. Chatham’s Jon Wehner at work.

The Food Issue 2022

realized there wouldn’t be a wine trail, so we had to look to food. And we have been partnering with foodways and aquaculture, not wine growers, because wine growers aren’t here.” Chef Opie says he works with winemakers and food growers personally. “Working with Spike Gjerde [of Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen] taught me that food tells you your sense of place in the year, where you are, what time of year it is. As that progression goes, I work with farmers and growers and winemakers, asking them to grow certain things to go with my menus.” The Chesapeake Bay colonists had

the food—indeed, look at any early American cookbook and the recipes are mainly Chesapeake based—but they didn’t have the complementary wine. Thanks to the intrepidness and skill of winegrowers, however, local wines are catching up, making for some exciting, innovative food-and-wine pairings— and foodways relationships—to showcase the tantalizing flavors of the Chesapeake. Barbara Noe Kennedy is a freelance writer and editor based in Arlington, Va., with a penchant for kayaking, sunsets over the Bay, and Chesapeake crabcakes. Her website is barbaranoekennedy.com.

Chesapeake

Calve alvert al vert Marina vert arina

Boating Club

Learn it then Live

SOLOMONS, MD

PROTECT YOUR BOAT IN A COVERED SLIP

WE ALSO HAVE FLOATING VISITOR DOCKS 50 AMP ELECTRIC GAS DOCK WINTER STORAGE ON LAND & IN WATER

Classroom and hands-on training Join the club and use the boats Power & Sail 410 . 280 . 8692

410-326-4251

clubinfo@ChesapeakeBoatingClub.com

CALVERTMARINA . COM

I N T R I N S I C YAC H T & S H I P C E L E BR AT I N G 2 1 Y E A R S

Celebrate the Bay!

OF GETTING YOU ON THE WATER! Your local dealer for:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

410.263.9288

Intrinsicyacht.com

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

UPPER CRUST Bakeries worth the wait Would you drive an hour for a perfect blueberry scone, or stand in line for a fresh loaf of sourdough? If so, this story is for you. Our region is home to some amazing bakeries, each with their own vibe and sought-after specialties. What they have in common: Owners that are as passionate about their craft as their devoted fans are about their goodies.

BY SUSAN MOYNIHAN

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

Black Market Bakers food truck window

FOOD TRUCK TURNED STOREFRONT:

BLACK MARKET BAKERS, ANNAPOLIS If you’ve ever driven past Chevy’s on Route 2 in Annapolis on a Saturday morning and wondered what would cause people to get up early and stand in line out in the elements, here’s the answer: Cinnamon buns. Sourdough bread. Oatmeal cream pies. Or pretty much whatever else Black Market Bakers has on the menu for the week. Starting a bakery from a food truck isn’t easy, but Black Market Bakers makes it look like, well, a piece of cake.

childhood spin on that.” In February 2022, they are expanding back to their original plan, by opening a stand-alone Co-owners Sarah Carr bakery in Edgewater, Md. and Steve O’Leary Along with breads, muffins, sandwiches, and creative specials, they’ll also have coffee and espresso, in partnership with Rise Up Coffee. “Our biggest thing was making it approachable, in how its laid out,” says Carr. “Have you ever been anywhere and felt almost stupid about how to order? That was at the forefront of our minds. We just want everybody to feel comfortable coming in there.” It’s the same ethos they use in their menu. “When we started this whole business, we wanted it to be an approachable take on fresh pastry, an approachable taste on interesting flavors. We wanted to stay true to the foodie sides of ourselves but also be empathetic to our customer base, and to who we are as people. We wanted to create an atmosphere that we’re proud of and want to be immersed in.” 

Banana-marscapone muffins

Head baker/co-owner Sarah Carr has had a passion for baking her entire life. “I personally struggle with anxiety so baking gave me a sense of control, and it’s just my happy place,” she says. She’d been baking professionally for more than a decade when she met her business partners, Steve and Tom O’Leary. You may have seen the father-and-son team on this season of “Baking It” on Peacock. And their meeting in 2018 comes straight out of the Hallmark Channel. “I was at my husband’s grandmother’s funeral and they were catering the gathering afterwards,” says Carr. “My motherin-law was like, ‘Why don’t you go talk to the O’Learys? They’re food people, you’re a food person….’” They hit it off and made plans to open a bakery. When Covid hit, they pivoted to a food truck, open on Saturdays. An outdoor business was ideal for social distancing, and the ever-changing menu gave folks something new to look forward to on their visits. Buzz grew quickly via word of mouth and social media, and they had a hit. The vibe, she says, is “approachable French pastry with a nostalgic spin. We love feeding people’s inner child with fun throwback menus. We did a back-to-school menu and we did our own take on Little Debbie treats, putting a

Oatmeal cream pies

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

A COUPLE’S DREAM COME TRUE OUT OF THE OVEN, WHITE STONE, VA.

Cruffins: a cross between a muffin and a croissant

Another great thing about a storefront is more room to bake. “The food truck model is based around selling out,” says Carr. “As a bakery, we’re planning on baking all day so there’s always fresh product, even if you come in at the end of the day. The food truck is such a fun environment but I’m definitely looking forward to the stability of a storefront.” They plan to keep the truck open on Saturdays. “It’s like a second store,” she says. And if there’s something you like or want to see, let them know. “We love customer feedback, and we love bringing back things that people request.”

BAKER’S CHOICE: “I love bread; I could eat sourdough bread for every meal of the day. In terms of pastries, our filled croissants are my favorite thing right now. We make pretty big croissants, and we fill these things with different flavors. We’ve done one inspired by snickerdoodle cookies, so it has a brown butter cinnamon pastry cream with chunks of edible sugar cookie dough.” WHAT TO TRY: Breakfast sandwiches, oatmeal cream pies, muffins (aka “cupcakes that you eat for breakfast”), cruffins, fruit scones, weekly specials.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

Drive through tiny White Stone, Va., and keep your eyes open for a charming, two-story wooden house. That’s the site of Out of the Oven, the homestyle bakery owned by Marie and Cedrick Sanders since 2017. “My background has always been baking,” says Marie. “I did vo-tech school in high school for baking and pastry, and then I went to Johnson and Wales University and studied pastry arts.”

Out of the Oven cinnamon rolls

Her professional career has included stints at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Rittenhouse Hotel in Philly, and The Tides in Irvington. But as she moved up in her career, she got farther away from her initial passion. Her most recent corporate job was in Williambsurg. “Living in the Northern Neck and driving to Williamsburg was an hour and a half in each direction. I wasn’t a pastry chef any more; I was a food services managing. In the last year or two or working for that company I’d say to my husband, ‘All I want to do is open up a bakery; all I want to do is make cookies and pies.’ And every day I’d drive around the area and look for a good spot.” She finally found it in White Stone. “When I saw the ‘For Rent’ sign, I called and said, ‘I can meet you right now!’ ” And thus their dream business was born. Husband Cedric has a culinary background as a savory cook. “He grew up in the south, in Arkansas, and we met in Pennsylvania,” she says. “So he has that southern hospitality.”

They jumped in with both feet to make Out of the Oven a family affair for them and their two children. “I love the creativity of [baking], really seeing what you can do and how people react, good or bad,” she says. “People come into the bakery and say, ‘This reminds me of when I was a little kid.’ My apple pie may be the one you love, or it may be somebody else’s and that’s ok. There’s a million ways to do it, and that’s why we do what we do.” Focusing on what they do well, and not trying to be everything to everyone, is key to the business. “People come in asking us for soups and sandwiches, I say I don’t do that.” The same goes for coffee. They have urns as a convenience, but if you want a mocha cappucino, she’ll happily direct you to a nearby spot. They take pride and care in being a small-town bakery, by design. “It’s really hard to find a bakery that’s a traditional bakery,” she says. “But that’s what we are: a traditional bakery. We make our cookies and our pies, we make our own danishes, I make cakes and icings— we do all that. We sell a really good New York-style cheesecake, and only use Philadelphia cream cheese. I’m from the suburbs of Philadelphia, so maybe that’s part of it—a cheesecake has to be made with Philadelphia cream cheese.” It’s a full-circle ending for Marie. “As a 7th and 8th grader, when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I remember saying ‘I want to go to Johnson and Wales University and be a pastry chef,’” she says. “I actually ended up persuing what I wanted to do.”

NEW GIRL IN TOWN THE BAKIST, NORTH BEACH, MD. “I’ve been baking since I can remember,” says Deserae “Dez” Virago. She was running a thriving bakery-restaurant in Spokane, Washington, when the opportunity came to move east with her family. Researching schools for her four kids led her to Calvert County, where she “fell in love with North Beach” and moved in January 2019. That’s where found Sweet Sue’s Bake Shop, a neighborhood bakery run by various owners over the last decade. And though she enjoyed time away from running a business, and working on her blog Dezthebakist.com, she missed working with other people. “So I went ahead and applied to be a baker at Sweet Sue’s and started working on the weekends,” she says. “Megan the owner and I got along really well, and I kept

BAKERS CHOICE: “I am not an overly sweet person, which dictates that our desserts are not overly sweet and sugary. If I’ve got a cookie in front of me by choice, it’s an oatmeal raisin. If I’ve got a cake in front of me, it’s a carrot cake. Those are my go-tos.” WHAT TO TRY: Danishes, lemon bars, pies.

Chocolate mocha and pecan bars

Fresh-baked focaccia

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

thinking, “maybe I want to do this again? I miss baking, I miss baking for people.” Along with baking at Sweet Sue’s, she ran a home baking business under Maryland Cottage Food Industry laws, selling at events under the name The Bakist. But it wasn’t the same as having a bakery. In summer of 2020, she started working full-time at Sweet Sue’s, doing baking, helping with social media, and making small changes, like bringing in some of her own recipes and improving the coffee service by bringing in Rise Up Coffee and adding lattes and espresso. She knew the business was for sale. “Through the months I joked with Megan and said, ‘We can work out a deal and I can buy this from you.’ She’d be like, ‘We’ll see.’” When the opportunity arose in December 2020, Virago jumped. “It took two weeks to get a contract together and do all the details, and then as of Jan 1, 2021 I was the owner.” She moved cautiously at first. “I didn’t want to change too fast because I didn’t want to lose any customer base. But I found that as

Cream cheese cinnamon rolls

I made changes, I got more customers. I think that everybody was ready for a change.” She started with the basics: recipes. “The biggest thing was changing the breads and making the cinnamon rolls in house. We had a little controversy in the beginning because I make a cream-cheese frosting. I did a poll on Facebook over cream cheese or regular icing, and it was an even split. I’ve always made it with cream cheese, so I decided I’m just going to do it that way.” Then she freshened the décor, swapping out the TV blaring news channels for gifts and sundries, and colorful flags supporting diversity and inclusivity. The result is personal, welcoming, and modern. Her previous businesses were family affairs, but this is all hers, and she loves it. “I was really excited to just be free with this one and do what I felt was good. It’s been amazing.” As for the baking, “I love making breads, because I feel there is so much you can do with it and so many ways you can change it. You can make a million different things with one recipe; it’s just super fun.” “I love making scones. It’s one of my original recipes and its very therapeutic to make them. With scones, you’re forming them with your hands, and that’s one thing I like. With cookies, it’s a mixer and scooping, but I like to hand shape things.” Expansion plans are in the works for the coming year, to a nearby space with more room for baking and onsite dining. “The business keeps surprising me,” she says. “I’ll be preparing for low numbers and then we’ll be super busy and have to call people in because we’re too busy.” It’s a problem she’s very happy to have.

BAKER’S CHOICE: “I usually try a chocolate chip cookie everywhere I can, just because there are so many different variations of chocolate chip cookies. I don’t think you can ever say one place has the best. They’re all going to be good.”

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

WHAT TO TRY: Gooey cookies, made with cream cheese from her grandmother’s recipe, cinnamon buns, bagels, scones, breakfast quiche.

Learn boating From the masters of their trades Currently Offered

COURSES: •

Hands-on classes in diesel engines, electronics and basic navigation •

Captains’ license courses

NEW in

MARCH 2022: •

Systems - a vessel systems course covering ALL systems from plumbing to electronics & propulsion.

AnnapolisSchoolofSeamanship.com

Celebrating 30 years of bringing the thrill and freedom of learning to sail for anyone with a disability, recovering warriors, and children from underserved communities.

Coming soon in 2022! The CRAB Annapolis Adaptive Boating Center For more information about Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating: www.crabsailing.org or 410-266-5722 ChipAndShuck-half-page-ad-8.5x5.5-CBM-Feb2022-MECH.qxp_Layout 1 2/4/22 7:39 PM Page 1

Give your Valentine the Best Shuck ever!

theOysterOpener.com

OVENBIRD BAKERY, BALTIMORE When ornithologist Keiller Kyle first started watching The Great British Baking Show in 2016, he had no idea it would change his Owner Keiller Kyle life. He and his wife had been baking at home, but the show inspired him to experiment. “I started baking a few different items off the show—swiss rolls and lemon poppy-seed tea cakes—and then I started getting really interested in the bread portion of the show. I never really did bread, it was very intimidating to me. But I got really excited about the result and the process. The science-minded person in me saw a lot of structures, and the live yeast aspect really spoke to me—especially interacting with other living entities to create something unique and fun.” He shared his results with family and friends, who raved about it and in turn Artinsal loaves a la Ovenbird shared it with their friends. He started selling bread from home, at a nominal fee which are a revelation to those of us who grew up on to cover flour costs but with no intention to make it Thomas’s. The semi-sweet Turkish mosaic cake harkens professional. But his friends—including those in the Little back to his wife’s childhood. Italy restaurant community—encouraged him to think The secret to everything is the amount of time they take bigger. In 2019, he made the leap and found a space in Little to let the yeast ferment: 24 hours for the baguettes, 32 hours Italy. The March 2020 opening was delayed due to the for sourdough. “It really does speak to level of flavor shutdown, and Ovenbird Bakery opened in June 2020. complexity that you can draw out of same base flour,” he says. The corner retail storefront is at the heart of the “Depending on how much you let that starter or levain work business, but they also sell bread to local restaurants on the dough, it will change the flavor profile completely.” (including Little Italy mainstay La Scala) and pastries to a He’s also inspired by the bakery as its own microcosm. number of coffee shops. Aveley Farms provides the single“I love the idea of structure and logistics, in terms of how roast beans for their coffee, and their imported Italianthings function. This effort that starts at 10 p.m. the day roasted espresso beans come from Di Pasquales. before, runs through the night and … gets passed on to the As for the menu, as much as he loves bread, “we are a morning crew that starts at 5 a.m.; these things flow scone and croissant bakery first and foremost. Our biggest together and it culminates in opening with a full case of sellers are blueberry-lemon scones, which we have not pastry and a full rack of breads. It’s almost like a dance, been able to take off menu since day one. Savory scones especially in such a small space. There’s a lot of pirouetting are a quick second. Then we move into croissants, which in space to allow other people to flow around you with hot are all hand done in house with our sourdough starter.” The trays. When that dance is flowing, it’s really amazing.”  starter is also used in their airy, oversized English muffins,

The Food Issue 2022

MICHAEL CABALLES @MIKEE_SHADRENE

@STARCHEFS

BIOLOGIST TURNED BREAD BAKER

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

MICHAEL CABALLES @MIKEE_SHADRENE

FIVE MORE SWEET SPOTS Here are a few more places we always stop by when we’re roaming around the Bay. CORNER BAKERY, ONANCOCK, VA. This no-frills, family-owned spot has been a staple on ESVA for more than 40 years. Folks drive an hour or more to stock up on donuts and creampuffs, but take a tip from us and don’t miss out on their sweet potato biscuits, if they have them. THE BAKERY ON MASON, CAPE CHARLES, VA. At this seasonal downtown spot, everything is baked daily from scratch, using locally sourced ingredients as much as possible, from the fruit in pastries to the cheeses in sandwiches. Try the cinnamon twirls, decadently large cookies, and tasty breads, including a sourdough that does justice to the owner’s San Francisco roots.

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com

The Food Issue 2022

English muffins

MICHAEL CABALLES @MIKEE_SHADRENE

They have expansion plans in the works, with a second, larger bakery due to open in Highlandtown in 2022, as well as a stall in the renovated Lexington Market. But no matter how much they grow, he’ll always keep his handson approach. “I really feel grounded when I’m back with what this whole thing started with, bread” he says. “The dough is alive, it’s completely reactive in your hands, it’s got massive strength so you can stretch it and do all sorts of things with it. It relives a lot of tension from things that may be going on in other parts of the bakery.” As with the bakery’s name, he sees a connection between his previous work and what he’s doing now. “I’m very drawn to those types of careers where the effort produces something, an entity—something you can see, something you can touch, something you can interact with. My conservation biology career was very much Scones about that. My effort was derived into birds being protected that you could see flying, see nesting, see interacting with their environment. That’s why I’m drawn to bread. You touch the stove, you work

with this product that gets baked, and then all of the sudden you have something that is very identifiable on a basic level, to almost all of humanity; I just made bread!”

BAKERS CHOICE: “I love things that I can put my hands around, like a meat pie or an empanada—I usually go to the heavier, savory stuff. If I want sweet, I go towards pies like key lime pie and cheesecakes; I will try a cheesecake anywhere with anybody. On my bagel, I’m an everything guy but if I’m here I almost never eat an everything bagel because I’m always eating the spicy fennel bagel that we have in house. It’s very simple, with fennel seeds and hot pepper flakes, but mixed in with our sourdough bagel, it’s heaven.”

WHAT TO TRY: English muffins, Baltimore sourdough, sweet and savory scones, croissants, focaccia with rosemary and sea salt.

EVERGRAIN BREAD COMPANY, CHESTERTOWN, MD. This bakery is also one of Chestertown’s favorite meeting spots. The artisanal bread menu follows a weekly schedule (Thursday for cinnamon raisin, Friday for kalamata olive loaf), and every day you’ll find baguettes, croissants, muffins and buzz bars. Grab some to go or enjoy it with a latte in their airy cafe or at a sidewalk bistro table. BAY COUNTRY BAKERY & CAFE, CAMBRIDGE, MD. The giant donut mural outside is a tip to what’s inside: cake donuts, yeast donuts, iced donuts, filled donuts. They have 25 different varies on the menu, and even do oversized “mega-nuts”—basically a cake-sized donut, iced and filled however you please. CAFÉ DEAR LEON, BALTIMORE At this narrow storefront, owned by three culinary school friends, items are released throughout the morning. Come at 6 a.m. for the almond croissants, 7:30 am for cinnamon crullers, and 11 am for the tamago sando, an addictive Japanese-style egg sandwich.

The Food Issue 2022

ChesapeakeBayMagazine.com