Maryland

The four hundred years since colonization have brought European, African and Asian techniques, ingredients and tastes to the Chesapeake Bay. European colonists and Africans both enslaved and free were influenced by indigenous ingredients and Native American cooking and created uniquely New World foods. The nineteenth century saw the development of industries based on the bounty of the Bay and the rising popularity of oysters, blue crab and turtle soup throughout the greater Mid-Atlantic. Waves of immigrants brought their own cuisines to the mix, and colcannon, brisket, sauerkraut and fish peppers are now found on Chesapeake tables. Local author, scientist and blogger Tangie Holifield weaves together the unique food traditions of the Bay, telling the stories of each culture that has contributed to its bounty.

Chesapeake oysters are part of the legacy of the area, history on the half-shell. Read of their beginning (foot-long bivalves!) through cultivation today.

The eastern oyster, the humble bivalve and delicous treat, are the living bones of the Chesapeake, as well as the ecological and historical lifeblood of the region. When colonists first sailed these impossibly abundant shores, they described massive shoals of foot-long oysters but the bottomless appetite of the Gilded Age and great fleets of skipjacks took their toll. Disease, environmental pressures and overconsumption decimated the population by the end of the twentieth century. While Virginia turned to bottom-leasing, passionate debate continues in Maryland among scientists and oystermen whether aquaculture or wild harvesting is the better way forward. Today, boutique oyster farming in the Bay is sustainably meeting the culinary demand of a new generation of connoisseurs. With careful research and interviews with experts, author Kate Livie presents this dynamic story and a glimpse of what the future may hold.

Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve, created in 1980, was a history-making decision that is a model for land preservation.

Montgomery County's earliest residents, Native Americans, developed agricultural communities and used the shores of the Potomac as a trading spot. European settlers farmed tobacco, eventually collapsing the County's economy until the Quaker community returned fertility to the land. The C&O Canal was the nation's first significant infrastructure project and helped create links to national and international markets. In the 20th century, the Marriott chain developed contemporary, industrialized food that signaled a changing world. The Agricultural Reserve was intended to preserve the county's rural past in the face of rapid change. Along with farming, it also preserved history and foodways.

Claudia Kousoulas and Ellen Letourneau tell this agricultural history through food and recipes.

For centuries, dating back to the time of the Native Americans, the fertile soils and the bountiful bays and salt marshes of the Delmarva Peninsula have fed its people well. Over the generations, its food culture has become intertwined with the history of the people who call this land home. Food determined where people lived, how they traveled, how their economy functioned and how they celebrated and shared the products of soil and salt water. Local writer and photographer Curtis Badger narrates this history with recipes based on seasonal bounty.

Carroll County's road signs are a testament to the farm families who settled here. Bollinger, Hoff, Roop, Baugher, Royer, Bushey, and many more are road names that honor those who have produced food for themselves and the nation in times of peace, war, and the Great Depression. In 1917, when the first county agricultural agent arrived, 96.6 percent of the land was held in 3,384 farms. By 1926, Carroll County, Maryland, led the state in corn, swine, and poultry production. It was second in dairy and beef, and it was the world leader in wormseed oil production. A prominent feature of Carroll County's landscape has always been the red barns, and they still are today. The photographs in this book were collected from farm families and historical organizations, portraying a unique insider's view of the history of farm life in Carroll County.