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Baltimore Chef Getting International Recognition

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- He's one of Baltimore's and the East Coast's best known chefs, and now he's getting international recognition.

Ron Matz has more on the man, who, for more than two decades, has chronicled the recipes of the Chesapeake Bay.

No one knows Maryland cuisine better than John Shields--a Baltimore native and Chef at Gertrude's at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

From crab imperial to oyster stew, his books on Chesapeake Bay cooking are best sellers, written with a personal touch.

'The book actually started 25 years ago. I spent almost a year traveling up and down the Chesapeake, visiting with people, hearing their stories, getting old recipes that were yellowed and hearing the tale of the region in which we live," said Shields.

Now he's getting worldwide recognition after the National Geographic blog has named "Chesapeake Bay Cooking" one of the best cookbooks of the year.

"It's a great honor, it really is. I was actually blown away. And some of the other books that are mentioned in there are awesome," Sheilds said.

The kitchen at Getrude's is always busy. From biscuits to crab soup, John's love of the bay is evident.

"It was such an honor, it really was, to be able to go to these people's homes," said Shields. "I was with watermen and their wives, and hearing their stories and getting recipes that were probably 100, 150 years old."

John Shields wrote his first cookbook 25 years ago. Today, the world knows about 'Chesapeake Bay Cooking."

For more information on John Shields' cookbooks, CLICK HERE.

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