It’s been kind of a hectic week.
While I originally intended to write this blog Thursday night, our electricity went out and I have been playing catch up on some chores that require the gift of our good friend Thomas Edison. Now that I have some time to sit and reflect on Thursday evening, I can also ask myself “What were you thinking??”My dinner on Thursday evening was completely deep-fried. Battered deep-fried, green bell pepper rings dusted in powdered sugar and a battered deep fried crab cake served with deep fried fries. The explanation? Gunning’s Seafood. I’ve always known about Gunning’s; it is somewhat of a family tradition, being my grandfather’s favorite restaurant and a place where my mom worked for a few years when she was younger. Jumping at the opportunity to re-visit and eat some of her childhood favorites, my mom decided to treat me to some dinner. It was a perfect rainy day to go out for a late dinner and we got to hang out one-on-one, which is rare having two younger siblings.
Gunning’s was first opened in 1969 as a blue-collar bar by Andrew E. Gunning in South Baltimore on Hanover Street. In 1970, Andrew’s son Edward started bringing in bushels of steamed crabs and selling them for $9/dozen. Obviously, Gunning’s (now Gunning’s Crab House) became even more popular because of its inexpensive crabs and local neighborhood feel. As the crab house grew, it evolved into a restaurant and started including even more of the Gunnings family: Ed’s mother-in-law started working in the kitchen and introducing family recipes like pepper rings and crab fluffs to restaurant patrons. The continuing reputation for low prices and authentic Baltimore neighborhood feel made the restaurant popular to both locals and tourists, helping the restaurant to grow even more. The authenticity of the restaurant was (and still is) a huge draw to anyone because of the simple, Baltimore cuisine served at Gunning’s and the restaurant’s origins. Because of the public clamor for this popular, authentic Baltimore experience, a second restaurant was opened in Ocean City and thrived until a fire caused the family to close its doors. Regardless, Gunning’s retained its popularity and moved to a larger location in Hanover, Maryland about 15 minutes outside of the city, allowing the restaurant to stay local and service even more customers as well as maintain its cultural identity as a cheap, local family restaurant.
The restaurant menu has changed very little since the 1970’s; Gunning’s is now run by Ed Gunning, Jr. (Ed Senior’s grandson) and the family recipes that made the restaurant popular are still closely guarded and taste the exact same. My mother, who worked in the kitchen at Gunning’s, told me that all the batter, desserts and spices are pre-made and mixed to prevent anyone outside of the family from knowing what makes them so unique and delicious.
While I shudder now, Thursday night was definitely delicious and well worth the extra calories. Hanging out with my mom and using her as a primary informant (….I mean listening to her tell me old stories…) was a cool experience that showed me culture can be found in the lives of my own parents as well as in a deep-fryer.
References:
http://www.gunningsonline.com/maryland_seafood_crabs/baltimores_best_crab_houses_steamed_crabs.php
Terms:
Primary informant: main source of inside information about a particular culture
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