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The Maryland Curiosity Bureau

What exactly is Lake Trout?

Lake Trout specials from Home BBQ & Fish at Northeast Market (photo credit: Aaron Henkin / WYPR)
Lake Trout specials from Home BBQ & Fish at Northeast Market (photo credit: Aaron Henkin / WYPR)

Baltimore has had a longtime love affair with the breaded, deep-fried carryout dish known as Lake Trout, but what is it, exactly? Is it trout? What lake does it come from? How did it get so popular? And how did it get its name? We talk with a Baltimore food blogger, a Maryland fisheries expert, and a celebrity chef to try to get to the bottom of this culinary mystery.

This episode, we hear from:

Simone Phillips, Creative-in-Residence at The Baltimore Banner

Erik Zlokovitz, Recreational Fisheries Coordinator at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources

John Shields, Chef at Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen and head of Our Common Table

Simone Phillips, Lake Trout aficionado and food blogger at Charm City Table (photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)
Simone Phillips, Lake Trout aficionado and Baltimore Banner Creative-in-Residence (photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)
Home BBQ & Fish, purveyors of Lake Trout at Northeast Market (photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)
Home BBQ & Fish, purveyors of Lake Trout at Northeast Market (photo credit Aaron Henkin / WYPR)

Aaron creates and produces original radio programs and podcasts for WYPR. His current project is The Maryland Curiosity Bureau. Aaron's neighborhood documentary series, Out of the Blocks, earned the 2018 national Edward R Murrow Award. His past work includes the long-running weekly cultural program, The Signal, and the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings series, Tapestry of the Times. Aaron's stories have aired nationally on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.