What’s in Season in Baltimore

What is in season in Baltimore, and what to order when the market changes.

Next up in Baltimore

21 Nov to 27 DecGerman and European Christmas market food

Spring

Soft-shell crabs: When the blue crabs first moult in late spring, soft-shells appear on menus citywide, pan-fried or fried whole and eaten shell and all. It is the first real sign of crab season.
Maryland asparagus and strawberries: Eastern Shore asparagus and the first strawberries fill the Sunday farmers' market under the JFX from April, the produce that signals the warm-weather table is opening.

Steamed blue crabs: Peak crab season runs through summer, when the blue crabs are heaviest. Brown-paper tables, wooden mallets and a heavy coat of Old Bay are the whole point of a Baltimore summer.
Snowballs: Shaved-ice snowballs run all summer from corner stands, the egg-custard flavour with marshmallow being the local default. Stands like Walther Gardens have shaved ice for a century.

Heavy fall crabs and oysters: Autumn brings the heaviest crabs of the year and the return of R-month oysters, when the Chesapeake beds come back into season and raw bars fill up across Fells Point and Canton.
Maryland crab soup: As the weather turns, the two Maryland soups take over: a tomato-and-vegetable Maryland crab soup and a richer cream of crab, both heavy with lump and Old Bay.

Oysters and oyster roasts: Winter is prime oyster season on the Chesapeake, when raw bars and oyster roasts run strong and the bivalves are at their plumpest and brightest across the city's seafood rooms.
Sauerkraut at Thanksgiving: A German legacy, many Baltimore families serve sauerkraut alongside the Thanksgiving turkey, a regional quirk that traces to the city's old German butcher and brewing community.

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Hotels in Baltimore, 23 Jan to 1 Feb 2027

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