B'more cuisine hosts a mix of cultures

Maryland may be all about crab cakes, but Baltimore is about the Berger cookie.

Despite appearances, these are not your New York City black-and-white cookies.

The Berger cookie is a thin vanilla wafer with an unreal, half-inch fudge coating. It's so good that for over 150 years, it's sustained an almost cult-like following in Baltimore.

Although you can now order these cookies online, Berger Cookie Bakery made its home in Federal Hill back in 1835. The eponymous cookie has been little changed since then.

While the Berger cookie has become a quintessential Baltimore icon over the years, it actually has its roots in German cuisine. Henry Berger, the founder, brought the recipe to America when he emigrated from Germany to East Baltimore.

When most people think about 19th century immigration, they think about Ellis Island. But after New York City, Baltimore received the most immigrants in its ports.

More than two million immigrants landed here from 1754 to 1914, mostly from Germany, Ireland and Eastern Europe. Pouring into the Baltimore harbor, many made their homes in Fells Point and Locust Point.

At its heart, then, Baltimore is an immigrant city. You can see this in the architectural influences of our buildings, in the slew of churches and temples downtown and in the host of ethnic festivals that take to our streets each summer.

But, really, you can see this no better than in our food. Immigrants came from Africa, Asia, Ireland, Poland, Italy, Russia and Greece—just to name a few.

With them, they brought their rich cultural histories that, through the years, have taken root in Baltimore cuisine. This city is a smorgasbord of food culture. Case in point: Corned Beef Row.

Located on the 1100 block of East Lombard Street, Corned Beef Row reflects the strong Jewish presence in Fells Point as Eastern Europeans flooded Baltimore during the 19th and 20th centuries.

Originally a bustling marketplace, Corned Beef Row was Baltimore's Jewish cultural center and was filled with vendors selling lox, whitefish, bagels and produce.

While Corned Beef Row is not the marketplace it once was, titan restaurants like Lenny's and Weiss Deli carry on its legacy.

If you find yourself in the neighborhood, the place to check out, in my opinion, is Attman's. It has an incredibly old-school hominess and the Reuben was voted "Baltimore's Best," according to Baltimore Magazine. My recommendation, though, is to try the "Lombard Street," a sandwich with hot corned beef, pastrami and Russian dressing.

It couldn't get better. If you're in the mood for German cuisine, Eichenkranz in Brewers Hill is a must.

It was initially founded as a singing society in 1894 by Philip Wagner, a German immigrant living in South East Baltimore. It was later converted into a restaurant in 1939 and has been an immense Baltimore presence ever since.

It can lean towards the expensive side for college students, but it's undeniably authentic German food: schnitzel, sauerbraten and wurst, to name a few.

They've added more standard diner food since reopening in 1991, but really, if you're eating at a restaurant named Eichenkranz, playing it safe defeats the purpose.

Either way, this is definitely the restaurant to drop by during Oktoberfest weekend.

Today, Baltimore's immigrant population has decreased dramatically since the 1900s, down to about 6 percent of residents. But that doesn't mean we've lost any of our diversity. Baltimoreans hail from all over the globe, with the most rapid population growth among people from Mexico, Korea, the West Indies, Jamaica, the former Soviet Union and Nigeria. And Baltimore cuisine has never been better.

Mt. Vernon boasts two giants: Dukem, Baltimore's go-to Ethiopian restaurant and the ever-popular Helmand, which serves up Afghani cuisine.

But there are still tons of hidden gems throughout Baltimore.

For example, La Cazuela in Fells Point serves Ecuadorian food and is the place to hit when you develop an insatiable empanada craving.

And if you're in the mood for true Caribbean fare, look no further than Waverly. Carry-outs like Real Deal and Trinidad Gourmet have brought quite a spark into the neighborhood.

Just considering food alone, Baltimore is filled with variety. So next time Nolan's isn't cutting it, shake it up a little and hop on the JHMI.

Chances are that you'll stumble onto something amazing.