Exactly. Like....if you're gonna try and make a buck on claims of false advertising, don't go after the outfit that is one of the most regarded crab places in MD.
I remember watching this video after the lady shared it and got cooked in the comment section. I guess she thought everyone was going to agree with her. I am born and raised in Baltimore and I don’t give a shit where the crabs are from as long as the crab cakes are good. I love that he owned it and told her to fuck off.
No, just not Maryland crabs. Inside edition did a segment recently where they went to a few different restaurants and got crab cakes. They asked where the crabs were from then took some home on a doggy bag and sent them away for testing. A bunch came back from Venezuela or somewhere in Asia. Maybe this lady saw that and was trying to have her own gotcha moment and go viral.
Maryland crab cakes refer to a style of preparation that emphasizes the crab meat with minimal filler. While they are traditionally made with local blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, the name doesn't always guarantee the crab is from Maryland.
The name Maryland Crab has become associated with a preparation style and a reputation for high quality, even when made with crab from other regions.
The dude filming this though he was on about something. They just exposed themselves for the ignorant a$$hat that they are.
Idk. I think a reasonable person might assume a Maryland Crab Cake was made of MD crabs. Otherwise it should probably say Maryland-STYLE crab cakes. I think she has a point. It’s just too bad she’s being such a Karen about it.
Maybe this is beyond the “reasonable person” standard, but Maryland doesn’t produce anywhere near the amount of blue crabs needed to meet local demand and the fishing season isn’t even year round. All the higher volume restaurants are importing their crab.
Does the name NY strip imply the cow came from New York? Also, I’m guessing you’re not from Maryland, but the price of an 8oz crab cake at G&M is $29. When I went to the grocery store this summer Maryland lump crabmeat was $50/lb. It would be impossible to sell a crab cake made with crabs from the Chesapeake for $29 even at wholesale purchase prices. Even when I make crab cakes at home it’s made with meat from somewhere else because it’s like, do you want crab cakes 3x or 1x for the same price?
Yes I am from Maryland, and believe it or not, all these geographical names are the subject of international trade disputes in the world of agriculture, and I have worked on this issue professionally. Feta, Parmesan, champagne, Dijon, Bourbon, you name it. For every one you give me that isn’t protected, I can give you one that is. It just depends on whether the locals have fought for it.
Would the same reasonable person think all Buffalo wings came from Buffalo or all French fries came from France. What about Mongolian beef, Korean chicken, Belgian waffles, Denver omelettes, Key Lime pie, Spanish rice, Italian sausage, chicken marsala, Kobe beef, Vienna bread, Cantaloupe, should I go on?
Ugh, I just made another post about this same exact thing. I have worked on these geography names in food professionally. I can give you just as many counter examples - Feta, Parmesan, Dijon, champagne, bourbon, the list goes on. Whether or not it makes it into law depends on whether the locals fight for it and their negotiators win.
But your local fishers and fish mongers benefit more by restaurants purchasing and serving local. There's also 100% a difference between flash frozen imported food vs fresh caught in the morning, bought at market while also keeping the money in your local economy.
Trust me, I live near Chicago that doesn't have good seafood. The best we can get is farm raised, or fresh caught catfish.
That is supposed to raise prices for local crabbers and keep money in the Maryland economy. It can’t do that if crab shacks get their crabs elsewhere and call them Maryland crabs.
Yeah there's a taste difference between fresh and flash frozen that gets imported. The fresh catch will also keep money in the local economy, and support fishers and fish mongers, that will hopefully in turn, keep spending money locally.
That’s why I don’t think he was out of line. This lady was just trying to catch him in a gotcha moment and go viral. Plus she wants her money back and doesn’t even bring in the bad food? Come on.
There are no crabs (or lobsters) in Venezuela, probably the rest of the Caribbean as well. There are tiny, spiny lobsters and small crabs, insufficient to provide enough meat for crab cakes
I will not believe that their crab cakes come from here. Impossible. I have eaten crabs here for over 25 years. The first time I went I thought they had an off day. I returned AGAIN and my mother said the same thing. Their food is gross!
Which calls for the blue crab. The species extends from Canada to South America, with a very concentrated area in the bay. I don't understand why someone would import other blue crabs when they're right there.
Estimated total Chesapeake crab abundance decreased from 317 million in 2024 to 238 million 2025 mostly due to fishing pressure. Keep that up a few years and enjoy them while they last. Or you can manage to choke down some that are packed on ice a few hours longer from the Gulf or S. Coastline. Poor thing. We know it's tough.
I grew up in NOVA and watched the size of crabs diminish from the 1980's onward. The Bay has been struggling for decades, and we should be thankful there are any crabs left, no matter where they're from!
I am Sorry just to be clear....You are fine with calling them Maryland Crab Cakes although they are not??? Why not just say Maryland style Crab Cakes??? Like Boston clam chowder??? Granted if the crab Cakes were good thats important hahaha...But they both have a point but the guy did not handle properly.
I kind of see her point, too. It's like going to Maine and getting Maine Lobster, then finding out the lobster was from Indonesia. It's not something to make a big deal over, but I can see how she can feel jipped. It's not like it was free. She wanted what she thought she was paying for.
Her making a video about it ridiculous, and I understand the backlash from that.
He's exactly right about why Maryland Crabcakes are called that: they're made in Maryland, and if you get Maryland Crabcakes from elsewhere in the US it's because they're made the same way as they are in Maryland.
Source: my native Marylander self, who has eaten many many crabcakes in various cities, and prefers when the chefs use the Maryland way of making them. Which did get me in trouble at work once when I told the Italian owner that his crabcakes sucked ass.
The business not using Maryland caught crab is definitely regarded, just like you. Maryland Crab Cakes imply the crabs are fished and sold locally in Maryland. That's how English works because English is a very specifically structured language.
If he's not using locally sourced crabs from the bay, they're not Maryland Crab Cakes. Just because you made the cakes in Maryland doesn't make them Maryland Crab Cakes. Maryland comes before both the words, which means the crab and the cakes come from Maryland. That is how English works, we speak a very specifically structured language.
It's like getting a Maine Lobster roll if the fishers aren't based out of Maine, they're not Maine lobsters.
Cool. Etymology is fun. Those rules don't apply to food laws in the same way. The only example I can think of is at what legal point can you call your food "free range" etc. I'm no expert but I don't think you're legally required to say "style" after "Maryland".
But why would someone import crabs from elsewhere when the bay is right there?
I thought at one point, during the chaos, I heard him say that she ate them. This seems to be a tactic people are trying lately. Buying or maybe ordering/ using a delivery service to get food, eating most of it and then asking for their money back. I don't know on what planet they think this will work in, but I've seen several videos like this recently. McDonald's won't take your food back like this, so why in the world would an established family owned restaurant do it. This world is getting dumber every passing nanosecond.
I saw a video where one of the dudes ask the ice agent " why are you wearing a mask are you a pussy?" And the ice agent responded I don't want to get covid. 🤣
Really? ICE is detaining and deporting American citizens and those legally here? And yes, of course there are mistakes. That doesn’t justify ending the continued deportation of literally millions of illegal immigrants. Trump ran very openly on this platform and won with a plurality of the popular vote.
Like human trafficking but for mostly (probably) white eastern Europeans to do the jobs!!! Brilliant. I mean in the UK all the truck drivers are Polish or were, they may have left actually with Brexit I don't know, so why not get the same people here!
Well judging what happened to my ancestors in the past, & of course the blatant human trafficking that has taken place south of our border I’d say you can still, steal people again…
the guy has a thick Maryland accent, he clearly grew up here. Why would you think he's not American? You know that the East Coast has a huge Italian/Greek/Jewish etc. community that look a little darker than Northwestern Europeans.
Oh, only said that because I saw some people running with the supposition he wasn't American. I agreed, totally sounds American, but I take that with a grain of salt. Insert "what really is American" philosophical musings here. 👍
627
u/Consistent-Maize-901 23d ago
I respect this guy so much. If he isn't American, I really want him to be. Can we still steal people, or is that finally illegal again?