ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Edible Gifts for People Who Have Moved From Maryland

Updated on November 9, 2014

Marylanders Love Their Food

I am aware that people from every region and every country have their food preferences, specialties, and cooking styles. It is evident to me that this is especially true for Marylanders. People in this state love their food as much (or more) than they love their football. While I'm not a foodie, I do know good food when I eat it. And I've come to love and crave some of these items as though I've lived here all of my life.

Over the years, I've noticed how much people who have emigrated or expatriated from this state still love the food. I have participated things such as sending care packages to service persons deployed out of the country. I have read comments from Marylanders who are living far from home. They love the gifts of Maryland food. They crave the tastes of the region. In this lens, I will share with you some of those highly sought after flavors from this region.

Maryland is well known for the blue crabs. Events are planned around crabs and crab-feasting. Lives revolve around crabs. Family traditions and careers around the crab are passed down for generations. It is fairly easy to know that blue crabs are the region specialty. Less known are the chocolates and the cookies. I plan to share with you some of the wonderful tastes of Maryland.

Image Credit: Dawn Rae -- All Rights Reserved (Click on photo for larger view)

Seafood Seasoning - To be sprinkled liberally on nearly everything edible in Maryland.

I'm from Indiana originally. I hadn't been much of a seafood consumer in Indiana. Old Bay is likely available in the stores. But I'd never heard of it. Never used it. Oh, I had plenty of fresh caught fish fry opportunities, but I used bread crumbs, or beer batter, or seasoned salt and such. Never Old Bay.

When I first moved to Maryland, the seafood not only tasted naturally seafoody, but also had a strong, seasoned flavor. It was good, but often it was too strong for my palate. At first. Now, I also use it, abuse it, and crave it.

Old Bay is a necessity for blue crab and shrimp preparation. Don't you dare try to prepare any sort of fish or seafood meal without it. But, like original Marylanders, I have become accustomed to using it on my french fries, pork chops, hamburgers, deviled eggs, cheesy pastas, and nearly every meat or soup meal I prepare. If i ever leave Maryland, I will take a case (not one sprinkle can; an entire case) of Old Bay with me.

I have seen others who have left Maryland (or who were deployed) ask others to send them care packages that included Old Bay. Or who gave profuse thanks to those thoughtful enough to send it as a gift. How convenient that it is currently available on Amazon. Click the link below to take a closer look.

Wockenfuss Homemade Candy - In the year 2015, Wockenfuss celebrates it's 100th year!

I first sampled Wockenfuss during one of my first visits to the wonderful waterside city; Ocean City, Maryland. Oh, heaven. I love chocolate. I love chocolate a lot. I like homemade chocolate. Back home, there was a wonderful little chocolate shop on mainstreet that I would visit as a special treat. Their show cases lined with wonderful flavors of every kind of chocolate you can imagine. That's the same with Wockenfuss. Imagine though, walking along the boardwalk, waves pounding, and stepping into the cool reprieve of a chocolate shop.

Chocolate with caramel and nuts are always my favorite. But I'm sure that you can find your favorite here also. In addition to the chocolates, they carry yummy items such as orange slices, chocolate covered apples, and jelly bellies.

You can visit Wockenfuss at their online site by clicking the big arrow below. If you are in a hurry to satisfy that chocolate craving, you can click one of the Amazon linkes below to begin shopping. How convenient is that?

Pecan Nougat egg. Available locally at Easter time.
Pecan Nougat egg. Available locally at Easter time.

Mary Sue Candy

Delicious Goodness: "Creamy Caramel, Fluffy Nougat, rolled in the Finest Pecans"

Oh.... Mary Sue....I love you.

I am not a religious person, not in the organized religion sense. But wow, I count down for Easter every year since moving here. I've discovered that a rare, miraculous thing happens in Maryland at that time of year. The stores start stocking these wonderful "eggs" by Mary Sue.

Mary Sue is a candy company, since 1948. Follow the Big Arrow link below for the official website and more information. But I can tell you that Mary Sue's specialty has got to be the Pecan Nougat Egg. Only one peek at the delectable piece of heaven will tell you that it's going to be good. Only one little taste will have you addicted.

Of course, Mary Sue makes a great many other things: almond bark, boxed chocolates, peanut brittle, and salt water taffy just to name a few. The website takes orders all year, thank goodness! But the Easter and Christmas Holidays have the local stores brimming with Mary Sue goodness.

Image Credit: Dawn Rae -- All Rights Reserved (Click on photo for larger view)

Rheb's Homemade Candies

Recommended by the Marylander of the family.

As soon as I said that I was preparing to write this lens, it started with my love of Mary Sue's Nougat eggs and I'm counting down for Easter already, the Mister shouted out "Rheb's!".

"Rheb's what?" I replied.

"Rheb's chocolate; downtown", he replies. Yah, he's a real talker.

So, I looked it up and pressed him for more information. I've not been there yet. Can you believe he brought it up but hasn't taken me yet? Men. But he says they are great and everyone (but me) knows about Rheb's. He loves their Turtles and their boxed chocolates.

You can see their website by clicking the Big Arrow link below.

CRAB CAKES! - Pappas Crab cakes are the Best.

Marylanders eat crabs. Whole crabs, soft-shelled crabs, and crab cakes. I don't fully understand the love of sitting at a table covered in kraft paper, hitting a crab with a hammer, cutting your fingers while you pull at the shell, avoiding the deadman's fingers, so you can eat a little crab mustard and meat. Nope. I don't get it. Yes, I hear Marylander's booing and hissing me. But I still don't get it. It's so much work for such a tiny bit of meat.

What I do get is crab cakes. Delicious, divine, jumbo meat crab cakes. There's a place called Al's seafood that has wonderful crab cakes (among other things). Then I went to Pappa's Restaurant.

Oh...goodness. I'm not a foodie, so I can't describe how wonderful these crab cakes are. They have several awards, including being Zagat Rated 2011. Whatever that is. I don't know how prestigious that is. But I do know that after I found the place, everyone who has ever come to visit me is treated to a Pappa's crab cake. And every time they return, they ask for another.

The best news is that you can order the food, this means crab cakes, from Pappas. Since their service has always been stellar, I'd imagine their shipped orders are just as good.

To get more information, please follow the Big Arrow link to the Pappas Restaurant Official website.

** I've decided this section will need a photo of a Pappas crabcake. Of course, I will have to purchase these crab cakes in order to take a photo. Stay tuned. Until then, the following crab cake photo is courtesy of Wikimedia creative commons.**

CounterArt Lazy Susan Glass Serving Plate, Seaside and Blue Crab
CounterArt Lazy Susan Glass Serving Plate, Seaside and Blue Crab
While searching for "I love Crab Cake" items, look what I found. It's this a gorgeous serving plate?!
 
Not a Pappas crab cake, but a delicious crabcake regardless.
Not a Pappas crab cake, but a delicious crabcake regardless.

A DVD About Eating Crabs -- say it isn't so.

But it is true. A DVD about eating crabs and crab cakes. Just click the amazon link to have your own. If you've seen this on PBS, I'd love to hear what you thought of it.

photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Berger's Cookies

Everyone in Maryland recommends Berger's cookies.

Berger's Cookies began in 1835, by a German Immigrant. Henry Berger was a baker and opened a bakery upon his arrival in East Baltimore.

These are wonderful "cakey" cookies that are hand-dipped in German, chocolaty fudge frosting. You just have to taste one to understand.

These cookies are so good they've appeared on The Talk, Rachel Ray, and Zagat.

You can find your cookies by clicking the Big Arrow link below to go the the official Berger's Cookies site.

Image Credit: Photo of Berger's cookies courtesy of Wikimedia Creative Commons

Special Treats Nearby -- UTZ chips.

UTZ chips are in Pennsylvania, just over the Maryland-Pennsylvania line. You can go to the UTZ potato chip factory and purchase the fresh or bulk chips there. It's crazy. I love that store. I once drove all the way up there for a pair of shoes at a local store and to load up at the UTZ store.

UTZ chips are fantastic. They come in local flavors, such as Crab Chips. They come in "normal" flavors such as regular, sour cream and onion, and BBQ. The more exotic flavors include salt & vinegar, pepper, and kettle classics smokin' sweet BBQ. Here's a disclaimer, if you like BBQ flavor, be prepared to become addicted to the kettle classics smokin' sweet BBQ chips.

Good news! You can order your supply of UTZ chips on Amazon, just click the amazon links. Or, visit the UTZ official website on the Big Arrow link below and shop in their store. Pay special attention to their "holiday favorites" and the gift boxes and tin sections.

Please stop and say hello. I'd love to hear if you've ever eaten any of these things. Especially, if you are an original Marylander and have regional food ideas I could and should try.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)