Crab House · Old Bay Steamed Crabs
Chesapeake Steamed Blue Crabs
📷 Closely related photo — Photo: Maryland GovPics / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Maryland crab houses dump steamed crabs directly onto brown-paper-covered picnic tables, handing diners a wooden mallet and a plastic knife instead of any real cutlery.
Live blue crabs are steamed in a mix of beer and vinegar with a heavy dusting of Old Bay, then served whole and piping hot for diners to pick apart by hand. Waterfront crab houses along the bay serve them by the dozen on butcher paper.
Why it's made this way: The Chesapeake Bay is the natural habitat of the blue crab, and picking crabs by hand at a paper-covered table is a specifically Maryland social ritual.
More from United States
New York Egg Cream
New York Street Cart Hot Dog
Los Angeles Street Tacos
Philly Cheesesteak
New Orleans Beignets
Chicago-Style Hot Dog
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.