Blue crab encrusted with Old Bay Seasoning may be front and center in Maryland’s culinary spotlight — it certainly deserves the attention — but there’s plenty of tempting Mid-Atlantic fare to scarf down beyond seafood. From pink-centered pit beef in Baltimore to intricate, fudge-layered cake on Smith Island, the state’s varied offerings guarantee that your appetite won’t go unsatisfied. (And we won’t judge you if you want to finish the culinary tour with a broiled crab cake.) Here’s everything that should be on your stomach’s radar in Maryland.

Illustration by Hello Neighbor Designs

Unlike Texas or Kansas City barbecue, which calls for cooking meat for hours on end, Maryland’s regional barbecue is for those without time to spare. Lean top roast beef, minimally seasoned, takes a spin on a grill directly above hot charcoals before being sliced into thin pink slivers, which are often raw to medium-rare. At Chap’s Pit Beef in Aberdeen and Baltimore, those slices come piled atop a roll dressed with onions and Chaps' Tiger Sauce, a pungent blend of two parts mayonnaise and one part horseradish.

If a knish and a codfish cake had a baby, you’d get the Baltimore coddie. These hand-formed potato cakes are shot through with salt cod (and sometimes Old Bay) before taking a dip in the deep fryer. They’re traditionally served between two saltine crackers with a dollop of mustard, at room temperature, and were once sold at soda fountains and delis all over 1920s Baltimore. These days, you can find an exemplary version at Attman's on Lombard Street.

It’s called “striped bass” elsewhere in the United States, but in Maryland it’s rockfish, no buts about it. The state’s most-important commercial and recreational fish species is delicious to boot. White and flaky, with a mild flavor, it’s a shape shifter of sorts, allowing for any number of preparations. Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen serves it oven-baked alongside Hasselback potatoes and corn-and-crab fritters. At Carrol's Creek Cafe in Annapolis, get it encrusted with herbs, roasted and complemented by creamy risotto, baby spinach, jumbo lump crab and a velvety blanket of beurre blanc.