History

Lake trout has nothing to do with trout or lakes. The story goes that whiting arriving late in the season at Lexington Market was sold as late trout, which slurred into lake trout. The cheap, flaky white fish became a corner-store and carry-out fixture, fried in cornmeal and folded into white bread with hot sauce. It remains a defining cheap eat of Black Baltimore, sold from steam tables and fish counters across the city.

Common allergens: Fish, Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 20 minTotal 25 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 whiting fillets
  • 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
  • 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Half a teaspoon black pepper
  • Neutral oil, for frying
  • White bread and hot sauce, to serve

Method

  1. Heat an inch of oil in a heavy pan to about 175C, or until a pinch of cornmeal sizzles instantly.
  2. Mix the cornmeal with the Old Bay, salt and pepper in a shallow dish.
  3. Pat the whiting dry, then dredge each fillet in the seasoned cornmeal, pressing to coat.
  4. Fry in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until deep golden and the edges shatter.
  5. Drain briefly, then serve on white bread with plenty of hot sauce.

Tip from the editors. Use fine cornmeal and keep the oil hot; a cool pan gives you a soggy coat instead of the shattering crust that defines lake trout.

This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.

Where to eat lake trout

Lake trout in Baltimore

Faidley's Seafood ★ 4.7

downtownMon-Sat daytime, closed Sunday

Faidley's stand inside Lexington Market serves the city's benchmark crab cake since 1886, almost all jumbo lump, eaten standing at a counter off brown paper.

Try: Jumbo lump crab cake

Tip: Order the all-lump grade and eat it at the stand-up rail; it also fries a classic lake trout.

119 North Paca Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

Lexington Market ★ 4.2

downtown

Lexington Market gathers cheap counters under one roof, from Faidley's crab cake to lake trout and chicken boxes, the city's oldest market and its best value.

Try: Crab cake, lake trout, market stalls

Tip: Graze the stalls for lake trout, a chicken box or a crab cake; cash speeds the older counters.

112 North Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21201

More cities are in research. Want lake trout covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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