Bean pies and Faidley's crab cakes

My sister once ate a Thai-style fried whole baby snapper that was so delicious, it literally made her cry.  Even if you live to eat as I do, it's not often that you have an experience so sublime, it makes you swoon.  Like love, these things come when you least expect them.

Lexington Market in inner-city Baltimore, Maryland is a proper fresh-food market, similar to Footscray or Preston markets.  It's so exciting to see that markets like these exist in the States, as before now I had thought that the only options available to Americans were the pallid, wizened vegetables at a regular grocery store, slimy with overenergetic misting, or the frou-frou of the organic farmer's market.

Tucked down the back of the market is Faidley's, a seafood purveyor that has been in the same family and in the same location since 1886.  They are famous for their crab cakes, a Maryland specialty.  Who tipped us off?  Everyone's favourite Baltimore cop, McNulty, of course!  Wire freaks only - scroll about a 1/4 of the way down for the quote.

It's standing room only at Faidley's, which is a dangerous thing when you take a bite of this crab cake and feel your legs give way.  Absolutely one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.  Fat chunks of crab meat - no shreds at all - just barely bound with cracker crumbs before being lightly fried.  The crab is so fresh, and there's no room for any extraneous binders or fillers, such is the quantity packed in.  As Bruce Goldfarb says, "A crab cake to tell your grandchildren about."

On our way out we picked up an "Ali Teenie Beanie - with The Come Back Taste!"  Oh, say it with me now - The Come Back Taste!  I love it!!

These pies, made with navy beans (small, white beans like the ones in canned baked beans) have an interesting history.  They have been associated with the Nation of Islam movement, whose founder promoted the pies as an attempt to get his followers to eat more healthily, and also as a fundraising method. 

Well, I should get my daughter's kindy onto these instead of the filthy Cadbury fundraising box.  The interior is sweet, custardy, and gooey, while the top is burnished brown sugar.  Eating a pie made with beans doesn't seem weird to me at all, especially when so many of my favourite sweets are made with red beans, mung beans, or glutinous rice.  The beans give the custard a more substantial texture than just eggs alone.  The Come Back Taste - amen to that!

This ends my chronicle of the best foods I ate in the States.  Thanks for coming on the journey with me, and I hope I managed to show you some of the diversity of this great country, which is so often unfairly written off as nothing but a fast food nation.  I had been worried to write about non-Footscray things here; the blog's focus is very specific and I do like it that way.  However, I was surprised and delighted that you all seemed to enjoy my virtual "slide night" and didn't switch off!  As you read this, I am back in Footscray, getting ready to share more western suburbs gems with you.  Stay tuned!

If you're planning a trip to B-more, I recommend Welcome to Baltimore, Hon! to get you off the beaten path.  You can find the self-guided Wire Tour here at Wikitravel.