This year marked the golden anniversary of the National Crab Cooking Contest, held annually in early September in connection with the famous National Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield, Md., a town very similar to our area.

Once, thriving seafood industries were in abundance. As the crow flies, Crisfield is just across the Chesapeake Bay from Northumberland County, but by automobile, it’s a long way around.

For 50 years cooks from far and near, with their special crab recipes in hand, have come to this quaint and friendly town to prove theirs is the best method of preparing the crab. It has been the pleasure of this writer to have been one of the cooking contest judges for 30 consecutive years.

Like all past contests the key to success is using one pound of genuine Maryland blue crab meat that allows its distinctive flavor to come through, no matter what may have been added or included. In 50 years, one would think all possible combinations in the categories of soups, crab cakes, sa...