I first heard of the city of Baltimore as a kid, when I read Frederick Douglass' Narrative of the Life of an American Slave (in translation). Truth be told, other than when the city makes the news for police corruption or police brutality, I haven't given much thought to it. Unlike most everyone else, I did not watch the Wire. We stayed in Maryland for a couple of days a couple of years ago and I thought about visiting the city, but we went to the NSA museum instead.

This is all to say that I know next to nothing about Baltimore cuisine and I did not go looking for recipes I could cook to represent the city. Instead, after cleaning up my grill this summer, I went looking for BBQ recipes that should not be missed. That's how I came across Baltimore Pit Beef, the dish I made.

This is not to say that Baltimore does not have its own cuisine. In addition to joints selling pit beef, Baltimore is known for its lake trout joints, Old Bay seasoning, slurpy-like snowballs and Berger Cookies.

Baltimore Pit Beef

Baltimore Pit Beef refers to a very simple sandwich of grilled sliced beef and raw white onions, served in a kaiser roll with a horseradish-mayo sauce - or, increasingly since the 1980's, BBQ sauce. The sandwich dates back to the 1970s, when stands selling it appeared around Route 40, the road between the industrial center of Baltimore and the city's northern suburbs. Today, there are several restaurants which serve the sandwich, and it has become an object of nostalgia for people who grew up in the city. They are often served with thick fries and gravy, another Baltimore specialty.

The description of the sandwiches reminded me of Panera's steak and cheddar sandwiches, which I came to like during the pandemic. They also featured a mild horseradish sauce, which worked very well with the other ingredients. Indeed, I had already bought Arby's horsey sauce to try to make them at home (with store-bought roast beef, mind you).

What particularly attracted me to Baltimore pit sandwiches is that they are made with grilled top round. Top round was not only on sale last week, but it's a very economical cut of meat as it's boneless, doesn't have a cap of fat that requires trimming off (unlike, for example, tri-tip), and has very little intramuscular fat or connective tissue. This, however, makes it tough to cook properly and can result in a very tough steak. It's best used in preparations that call for slicing it thinly - indeed, it's my favorite cut for milanesas.

Pit beef is usually made with top round roast rather than steaks, but only the latter were available at my supermarket. A roast would be much easier to carve thinly, but steaks have the advantage of being easier to grill. They also have the advantage of being more flavorful, as they have a much higher crust-to-meat ratio. Cutting thin slices was easier than I anticipated - fortunately, I had a sharp knife. Obviously, the slices were very narrow, but they worked well enough for the sandwich. And the beef was very flavorful and tender.

Pit beef is usually made on charcoal grills, but I have a gas one so the instructions are for a gas grill.

As for the sandwich itself, my expectations were low given that it seems to be more of an object of nostalgia in Baltimore rather than of culinary delight, but I loved it. I was particularly blow away by how tasty the raw white onion was in its combination with the beef and the sauce. I'm not usually a raw onion sort of person, but here they work to perfection. I used Arby's horsey sauce, as I had already bought it, but you can make your own "tiger sauce". It's basically a combination of mayo and horseradish with some spices added.

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Baltimore Pit Beef Ingredients 2 lb beef top round steak For the rub 2 tsp coarse sea salt 2 tsp cracked black pepper 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp dried oregano For the sandwiches 8 kaiser rolls, sliced in the middle 1 sweet white onion, thinly sliced in rings horseradish mayo sauce, homemade or commercial Directions Press the rub onto the roast, cover in plastic wrap and rest for at least one hour. Meanwhile, optionally set a smoker box with wood chips on one side of your grill. Turn on that side of your grill to medium high and preheat the grill to 400°F. Place the beef on the cool side of your grill and cook, covered, for about 4-5 minutes. Turn and repeat. If desired, turn burners under the steak and sear the steak on high for a minute or two per side. Let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly cut the beef into slices. Prepare the sandwiches by piling the sliced beef into the kaiser rolls, topping them with sliced onions and horseradish sauce.

Adapted from a recipe at The Barbecue Bible

Recipes for the Grill

American Regional Cuisines: American, Alaskan, Appalachian, Alabamian, Angeleno, Arizonan, Arkansas, Californian, Coloradoan, Connecticuter, Delawarean, Floridian, Georgian, Hawaiian, Hoosier, Idahoan, Illinoisan, Iowan, Kansan, Kansas City, Kentuckian, Lowcountry, Mainer, Marylander, Massachusetts, Michigander, Minnesotan, Mississippian, Missourian, Montanan

Other Ethnic American cuisines: American, Acadians, African-American, Amish, Appalachian, Cal-Mex, Cajun, Creole, Cuban-American, Floribbean, German-American, Hungarian-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Jewish American, K-Mex, Korean-American

American Indigenous cuisines (add when we catch up to M) Choctaw, Iroquoian, Kiowa

Historical American Cuisines: Ante Bellum, Colonial, Cowboy

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