never mind the crab cakes, here`s the

Cheese fish
Never mind the crab cakes, here’s the
and other seafood delicacies Baltimore really eats
O
K, so everybody knows what to get if they ever visit Baltimore—crab cakes, steamed crabs, crab soup, crab pretzel, just
something with some crab in it please. But for those of us who actually live here in the city—and by us I mean working shlubs, the 99
percent if you will—crab cakes are simply not a part of our daily existence. For people who know from good crab cakes, they’re just
too expensive to eat very often. But this is supposed to be a seafood town—we are situated right on one of the greatest bays on the
continent, after all. Thing is, at least within the confines of the more touristy areas of the city, Baltimore is dominated by chain or big,
sit-down type restaurants. Where are the small, mom-and-pop joints that will fix you some simple, straight-up fish then? Well, they’re
here, you just gotta know where to look, preferably by having someone willing to set aside any concern for their own regularity
and cardiovascular well-being do the legwork. So here you go, and just in time for Lent—or for the less pious among us, the
glorious 40 days every year when the Filet O’ FishTM, undisputed king of fast-food fish sandwiches, is on sale.
Enough has been written about the subject for it not to be news anymore, but in case you didn’t know, the “other”
dominant seafood dish in Baltimore is something called lake trout. Basically, the term “lake trout” refers to a fish called
whiting, which is fried and served with sliced white bread and hot sauce. Much has been made of the provenance of
lake trout, mostly stemming from the specific type of fish used for the dish. Multiple species may have been used in the
past, but from what I can gather, the current fish of choice is whiting, and to a lesser extent, a smaller but very similar
fish interchangeably called “oyster trout” or “ling.” And no, neither are from a lake (number of natural lakes in Maryland:
zero), nor are they a type of trout. They are both saltwater fish related to cod, as is a fish called hake, which when cut
into crosswise slabs is the animal most always used for the mysteriously named “steakfish.”
Both whiting and oyster trout/ling are narrow and quite bony, making them prime candidates for being cooked
whole. Indeed one of the joys of a properly prepared lake trout is when the fins and outermost pinbones get the life
fried out of them, so that they become crispy, crunch-ity built-in fishy chips. As for maneuvering around the bones
within the flesh, the best technique I’ve come up with so far is simply patience and careful chewing. I think it must
be a rite of passage in Baltimore to have a needle-y lake trout bone pierce you between your tooth and gum line.
Shudder. You can get it boneless too, of course, and in this case it’s often called “whiting,” so just remember, most of
the time “lake trout” = bone in, “whiting” = boneless.
When a boneless filet is placed on a roll instead of open-faced on white bread, it becomes a more recognizable
fish sandwich. Here in Baltimore, the default fish for such a sandwich is likely to be a piece of pre-formed pollack
instead of whiting, and is often topped with American cheese—a “cheese fish sandwich.” A friend who moved
to the West Coast told me he tried to order a cheese fish sandwich in San Francisco, whereupon he was informed that they had flounder, salmon, and orange roughy but did not carry “cheese fish.” Silly hippies.
There are lots of places where lake trout is the only seafood, where fried chicken gets first or equal billing.
But then there are the truly seafood-oriented places at which lake trout is just one of the many fishes that
can be had, fried, steamed, grilled, or what have you. The main differences between fish from a lake trout/
chicken place and from a fishmonger usually come down to the coating, and the texture of the fish itself.
The former will tend to use a highly seasoned Southern-style cornmeal coating, which is reliably crunchy
but perhaps lacking in subtlety, while the latter usually gravitates toward a more floury, batter-style casing. Also, as one insider informed me, fish and chicken joints tend to salt their fish up to a day ahead of
time, not only for flavor, but to firm the flesh up and make it less prone to breakage in the fryer. More
committed seafood operations tend to season their fish very lightly, presumably to showcase its freshness, and indeed both the flavor and texture of these two stripes of lake trout are pretty distinct.
And then there is a third, even less prominent, but equally treasured Baltimore seafood institution:
the coddie. A coddie is salt cod that has been reconstituted in either water or milk, shredded or chopped,
and mixed with some sort of filler, usually mashed potatoes. Time was when you could find coddies
practically everywhere—supermarkets, delis, I’ve even seen them for sale in gas stations and convenience
stores. At these places though, the coddies will almost certainly be the same shape and size as a hockey
puck, and will have been reheated from a premade frozen package. They aren’t all that bad really, but they
pale in comparison to a real homemade coddie. In fact, if a seafood place happens to sell both types, they will
often distinguish the processed hockey pucks from their homemade coddies by calling them “fishcakes.” Moreover,
if you’re familiar mostly with the hockey pucks, aside from the superior quality, the sheer variety of homemade coddie
recipes out there will astound you, and possibly restore your faith in Baltimore’s rep as a seafood town, as it did mine in
compiling the following non-crab cake seafood eater’s guide to Baltimore.
B y
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H e n r y
citypaper.com
H o n g
A friend who moved to the West Coast told me he
tried to order a cheese fish sandwich and was
informed that they had flounder, salmon, and orange
roughy but did not carry “cheese fish.” Silly hippies.
CHEESE FISH*
CHEESE FISHTOGRAPHY BY RARAH
CONTIN U ED
[ *NOT SHOWN ACTUAL SIZE ]
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FLOUNDER
Fish Commonly Available for
Frying
Catfish The lake trout of the South if you will. There’s actually a fairly wide range in
what catfish tastes like. Most catfish is farmed, and for whatever reason the stuff available
around here tends to have a lot of moisture and is flaky and very delicate, to the point of
falling apart while eating it. Catfish I’ve had further south is much meatier and denser.
Farmed has a neutral flavor, while wild can taste muddy (I’ve never seen wild catfish for
sale here though).
Cod Closely related to whiting and hake but larger, cod is probably my favorite fish for
frying—big, tender flakes that cleave cleanly, a good balance of tenderness and structure,
neutral to sweetish flavor, and moist even after long cooking times. Cod is one of the fish
most often used in English-style fish and chips, along with haddock. The term “scrod”
refers to a juvenile cod (which, although obviously smaller, has sweeter, more delicate
meat) but is sometimes misleadingly applied to smaller members of the cod family, like
whiting or ling.
OYSTER
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HAKE
march 7, 2012
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CATFISH
PERCH
COD
Flounder Thin, flat fillets that are very delicate, quite moist, and very neutral
in flavor. Good if you like your batter-to-fish ratio very high.
Lake trout/whiting/silver hake Whiting fillets are around a foot long
and somewhat narrow, and you most often get two to a sandwich order. The
flesh of lake trout from a place that doesn’t also sell fresh fish has medium
flake, and is firm, slightly fishy, and slightly salty, as it has probably been presalted. Fresh whiting is almost an entirely different fish—significantly more
delicate, slightly grainy, and pretty neutral in flavor. Some vendors will sell
the less meaty and bonier tail sections separately, at a lower price.
Ocean perch Shorter, wider, and significantly smaller than whiting,
this fish is slightly oilier, has slight grain, but overall is similar in flavor and
texture to whiting.
Oyster trout/ling/red hake The same shape but smaller overall than
whiting, the flavor and texture are nearly identical. A sandwich order will
usually get you three fillets due to the smaller size.
Steakfish/hake Steakfish is distinguished primarily by the pieces being
cut perpendicular to the spine, whereas fillets are cut along it. This cut affects
the texture—it is meaty, slightly fibrous, and fairly dense, while flavor is pretty
neutral. It’s mostly boneless, but beware of small bones near the spine and
around the bottom edges.
Tilapia Widely available, almost always farmed, tilapia is flaked but quite
dense, very lean, and moderately moist, and has that vaguely muddy, soil-y
flavor that some freshwater tend to have.
[ * SEA CREATURES NOT SHOWN ACTUAL SIZE ]
White perch Freshwater and—surprise—not actually a perch, it’s almost
chicken-y in texture, pleasantly dense and not flaky, clean slightly savory
flavor, and very lean.
CONTIN U ED
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P H OTO GR A P H S BY FR ANK KLE I N WI T H CR ACKER S and MUSTAR D
SAL’S SEAFOOD
Places
TO CATCH FISH
IN YOUR MOUTH
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Breezy Point Seafood
9501 Philadelphia Road, White Marsh, (410) 5747222, breezypointseafood.com
Overview: One of the best seafood markets
in the area. Huge display case filled with fish,
shellfish, and raw prepared dishes, including
crab cakes and coddies, along with an extensive
selection of frozen seafood, spices, and batter/
coating mixes. Any available fish can be fried.
Coddies: Large, heavy, domed, with an unusually smooth and uniform surface (possibly very
fine cracker meal). Dense filling with fine shreds
of cod and slightly mealy potato in equal proportion, highly seasoned with Old Bay, slightly
sweet oniony background. Cheapest housemade coddie at $1.75.
Lake trout: Extremely fresh, clean cleaving
with no fishiness, slight salt from fish surface
but not from within (i.e. not pre-salted), boneless. Instead of white bread, it’s served with
an exceptionally good bun, reminiscent of a
Philly-style cheesesteak roll—good crust, excellent chew.
Coating/batter: Predominantly flour, little if
any seasoning, overall not particularly crunchy
but some nice crunchy nub action on edges
and in folds.
Notable: Multiple sauces available for fried fish,
indoor and outdoor seating, steamed crabs.
Glossary
CHEESE FISH
The Crab Pot
Coddies/fish cakes Deep-fried fritters made from reconstituted salt cod, some sort of starchy filler (usually
mashed potatoes), and often a coating of breadcrumbs or cracker meal.
Crab ball Miniature crab cakes, shaped into balls.
“CRACKERS
AND MUSTARD”
CODDIES
Crab fluff A crab cake that has been battered and deep fried.
“Crackers and mustard” Used as either a request by the customer or an interrogative by the vendor. Crackers
and mustard are the usual accompaniment to cake-type seafood—crab
cakes, coddies, or salmon cakes—in lieu of bread for a sandwich. Generally,
if you’re asked “Crackers and mustard?” just answer “Yes, please.”
Deviled crab An old-school item that is becoming increasingly rare—crab
meat (usually the lowest grade) mixed with filler and spices, then
packed into an empty crab topshell and either deep fried or baked.
FRIED HARD
DEVILED CRAB
Fried hard Special instruction applicable to any deep-fried item, but most
often used with chicken or fish, indicating extra cooking time intended
to produce a crunchier or “harder” exterior, and consequently an extra
well-done interior.
Fried hard crab No relation to the above term: Think “(fried) hard crab.” Partially disassembled whole
crab stuffed with a crab cake, the whole thing then battered then fried.
Half and half Half lemonade and half iced tea. Unlike a traditional
Arnold Palmer, the half and half is made with sweetened iced tea, and
is thus much sweeter overall than the former.
glossary illustrations by alex fine, art whale
Lexington Market, 400 W. Lexington St. No. 600,
(410) 599-1526
Overview: Both cooked seafood and raw bar,
plus draft beer. Fried fish is priced by weight, by
piece, i.e., each piece in the display case is priced
individually based on its weight, and you pick
your own piece.
Coddies: Smallish, puck-shaped, with a fine
breadcrumb coating fried to a nice light tan,
light textured, creamy, with tiny chunks of potato and cod. Make sure you get the homemade
instead of the “fish cake,” which is just a standard
frozen-fish puck.
Lake trout: Fresh tasting, firm, available bonein or boneless. Make sure to ask for bread if you
want some.
Coating/batter: Mostly flour possibly with egg,
closer to fish- and-chips batter than to Southern
cornmeal, dark gold, clingy, with good crunch
and excellent nugget formation around the
edges, but very neutral seasoning.
Notable: Extensive daily selections and specials
on chalkboard, and the only source in the area
for soft-shell clams.
Some of these will be painfully obvious to many, but are included because I’ve been asked to define them on more than one occasion. A
surprising number of people I know have never actually eaten a hush puppy. Crab cake-related entries
included for comprehensiveness.
Cheese fish sandwich A fried fish fillet, almost always of the prepackaged frozen
variety (usually chopped and formed pollack), topped with American cheese and served on a burger or sub
roll. A McDonald’s Filet O’ Fish can correctly be referred to as a cheese fish sandwich.
FRIED HARD CRAB
Hush puppies Deep-fried cornmeal-batter balls, usually slightly sweet, sometimes
containing whole corn kernels.
LAKE TROUT
Lake trout Deep-fried fillets of fish, usually whiting (an ocean-dwelling member of the cod family), usually bone-in
but also served boneless, often coated in a seasoned cornmeal breading, and often served with sliced white bread.
Baltimore-style lake trout is never made with actual trout, and almost never made from lake-dwelling fish. There is
a trout called a “lake trout,” but it isn’t found in our part of the country.
Oyster stew This one’s more of a caveat, but traditional Maryland-style oyster stew is essentially oysters cooked in milk and cream, and not much else.
Faidley’s Seafood
Lexington Market, 203 N. Paca St., (410) 727-4898,
faidleyscrabcakes.com
Overview: Venerable Baltimore seafood heavyhitter, huge selection of fresh seafood, lots of
standing tables, cooked food, raw bar, and draft
beer. Fish vendors can be standoffish but tend
to really know their shit.
Coddies: Medium sized with oniony aroma,
flecked with parsley and tiny bits of raw onion, high shredded-cod-to-filler ratio with fairly
neutral spicing, slightly gummy, slightly herby
finish. Coated with very crunchy panko-style
breadcrumbs.
Lake trout: Very fresh, boneless very clean and
free of pinbones, mild flavor.
Coating/batter: More flour than cornmeal,
dark brown, good crunch, well-seasoned, but
a tad oily.
SALMON CAKE
HALF AND HALF
Salmon cake Canned salmon mixed with filler (usually breadcrumbs), mayonnaise, egg, and seasoning,
formed into flat cake, and fried or broiled.
Soft-shell crab A crab that’s caught after it has molted but before its new shell has hardened. It’s
served whole except the gills and face (eyes and mouth parts) have been trimmed off, and either
deep- or pan-, but almost always fried.
STUFFED SHRIMP
Stuffed shrimp Large shrimp that are stuffed with crab—usually
the establishment’s lowest-grade crab cake mixture—then fried
or, less often, broiled.
WHALE
Whales A term you don’t see too often anymore, it’s used to denote
the largest of five size classifications for soft-shell crabs (5.5-inchplus point to point). The other four in descending order (separated
by half-inch increments) are jumbos, primes, hotels, and mediums.
CONTIN U ED
[ * IT EMS NOT SHOW N TO SCALE O R D EL IC IO U S N ES S ]
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Places
CONTINUED
SHORE SEAFOOD
Notable: Excellent clam strips, glasses of wine
for $3.95 at the raw bar, unusual seafood and
meats occasionally available.
Hip Hop Fish and Chicken*
5223 Baltimore National Pike, (410) 744-0440
Overview: A local mini-chain with three locations, this one in an old Taco Bell franchise. The
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sides and shrimp appear to be boxed/frozen, but
the fish is hand-battered before frying.
Coddies: N/A
Lake trout: Fish is slightly briny, slightly fishy,
probably pre-salted, but otherwise decent.
Coating/batter: Mostly cornmeal, very crunchy
to the point of being almost hard, extremely
durable and able to withstand extended time
in the box without getting soggy. Good oniony
flavor.
Notable: Pretty good fried chicken as well as a
large array of deep-fried sides.
Jackpot Seafood
Northeast Market, 2101 E. Monument St., (410)
327-0082
Overview: Smaller fish purveyor with just a
few menu items, but will fry any fish you like
that they sell.
Coddies: N/A
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Lake trout: Superbly fresh fish is cleaned and
filleted on the spot; delicate texture and mild
flavor.
Coating/batter: Fantastically crunchy cornmeal-based crust, toasty, oniony, and savory.
Notable: If you want bread make sure to ask for
it. If you get lake trout or any other fish boneless,
remain vigilant for small bones.
Little Lou’s
8043 Philadelphia Road, Rosedale, (410) 8663900, littlelouseafood.com
Overview: Huge menu of seafood, subs, and
sandwiches, as well as a good selection of fresh
seafood. Fish is available for frying by weight
or as proscribed in the menu.
Coddies: Very unusual in that there’s very little
if any potato, very creamy, very smooth and
mild with just a hint of sweet and tart, fine fish
flavor and texture, puck-shaped and coated in
fairly fine breadcrumbs. Possibly a mayonnaisebased coddie, and if so the only one I’ve ever
encountered.
Lake trout: Extremely fresh, dense, moist, but
with somewhat excessive curling after frying.
Coating/batter: Cornmeal coating with very
little seasoning, moderately crunchy.
Notable: Excellent homemade tartar sauce—
make sure to get extra. Very good and impossibly cheap deviled eggs (35 cents each) in clever
packaging.
seating. Good selection of fresh fish and shellfish, raw bar, good specials, any fish can be fried,
steamed, or grilled.
Coddies: N/A
Lake trout: Very fresh, boneless was completely
bone-free.
Coating/batter: Thin, flour-based coating, slight
chew with decent crisp—not crunch—around
the edges and thinner parts of the fillet. Very
little seasoning.
Notable: Excellent fries and even better coleslaw. Maybe the best coleslaw in Baltimore.
Market Seafood
Lexington Market, 410 W. Lexington St., (410)
752-7008
Overview: Very busy stand in the middle of the
market, no fresh seafood or raw bar, all cooked
dishes.
Coddies: Available but not homemade.
Lake trout: Quite fresh, slightly briny, fried to
a good crisp.
Coating/batter: Cornmeal-based, good saltiness, hint of black pepper, nice and well done
with good crunch.
Notable: Unusual in that most of its fried seafood offerings (even shrimp) are prepped/battered in house, and on view in the large display
case. Eateries that don’t have a market area
often just use frozen items.
Eateries that don’t
have a market area often
just use frozen items.
airy texture, quite spicy with both cayenne and
mustard, slightly more potato than fish, but
great cod flavor.
Lake trout: Firm and moist with a whiff of
pleasant fishiness and slight salt.
Coating/batter: Good balance of cornmeal and
flour, very good crunch, lots of nubs around
edges and in creases, very well seasoned.
Notable: The same excellent batter is used on
all the fried seafood—try the seafood sub for a
veritable orgy of deep-fried goodness.
Shore Seafood
Sterling’s Crab and Oyster
House
410 W. 29th St., (410) 467-7710
Overview: Remington institution, excellent
soups, small selection of fresh seafood, steamed
crabs, somewhat slow service.
Coddies: Smallish with smooth exterior, light,
Northeast Market, 2101 E. Monument St., (410)
675-7705
Overview: The largest fishmonger in Lexington
Market, with a small counter used mostly by
raw-bar customers, fish available fried as well
as steamed, good selection of shellfish.
Coddies: Another unusual variation, this one
is flattened into a puck and coated with very
crunchy panko-like crumbs and fried hard to
a dark brown. The interior is almost entirely
shredded cod with the occasional flake, giving
it a very savory, juicy, chewy consistency, with
a toothsome exterior that gives some bites a
near jerky-like quality. Very tasty if a bit unorthodox.
Lake trout: As expected from a fishmonger,
very fresh, and cleaned exceptionally well (i.e.,
trimmed of bones).
Coating/batter: Flour-based but with excellent,
durable crunch, lots of nubs, well seasoned, and
with an excellent black pepper kick.
Notable: Probably my favorite overall fried fish.
Excellent cream of crab soup. ■
* multiple locations.
Wanna try it at home?
go to citypaper.com/cheesefish
for henry’s recipes.
FINIS
JACKPOT SEAFOOD
Mid-Atlantic Seafood*
5230 Baltimore National Pike, (410) 747-5858
Overview: Large establishment with an afterthought of a market-type section, but a large
selection of cooked food, including lots of soulfood items.
Coddies: N/A
Lake trout: On the menu, “lake trout” indicates
bone-in whiting, while “whiting” indicates
boneless. Somewhat salty, firm fish, with good
moistness.
Coating/batter: Mostly flour, more chew than
crunch but not unpleasant, very little oil, slightly
spicy.
Notable: Shellfish is definitely premade frozen stuff, but the soul food is homemade and
pretty good.
Sal’s Seafood
Broadway Market, 610 S. Broadway, (410) 6751466
Overview: The only seafood market in the
newly remodeled market, now with expanded
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