A crab feast needs a lot of table and not much else: paper, mallets, a pile of crabs, and somewhere to put the corn and the bread. A long, narrow board earns its spot. It also works on a wedding registry, where a board with the state on it gets used long after the reception.
Here's what our Maryland boards are and how to pick one. They're all in our Maryland gifts collection.
What the board is
Every Maryland board starts from the same blank: solid bamboo, 17 by 5.25 inches, cut in the silhouette of a wine bottle. The design is laser engraved into one face, so there's no ink or paint to wear off. The engraving comes out in shades from brown to near black, so no two boards look exactly alike.
It's long and narrow, so it's a serving and light slicing board rather than a chopping block. At a crab feast, it holds the bread, the corn or the butter and lemons. It shouldn't take the mallets.
For a crab feast
The Baltimore board
The Baltimore skyline cutting board shows the Inner Harbor waterfront and the clock tower, with the city name beneath. It's the board for a Baltimore table.
Add the crab
The boards don't carry our Old Line State design, but it goes on the table next to them. The Old Line State slate coaster set has a blue crab on the Chesapeake, "The Old Line State" and EST. 1788. Slate soaks up condensation instead of pushing it onto the table, which helps with a lot of cold drinks.
For a wedding registry
The Maryland wine bottle cutting board comes in our 16 Maryland state designs. A few suit a wedding:
- LOVE Stacked, with the state standing in for the O in LOVE
- Hand-Drawn Love, a hand-drawn state outline with love in cursive
- Home Script & Heart, the state outline with home in script and a heart
These are designs, not custom text, so there's no name or date on the board.
For a couple's first house, Home Sweet Home, with the state shape as the O in HOME, fits too.
Make it a set
A board and a coaster set make a fuller registry gift. The Maryland slate coaster set comes as a single coaster or a set of 4, 6 or 8, in natural slate with hand chiseled edges, round or square, in the same state designs.
Care
After a crab feast, clean it right away:
- Hand wash and towel dry. No dishwasher.
- Don't leave it soaking. Standing water warps a board.
- Oil it with food safe mineral oil when it starts to look pale.
- Store it upright so air reaches both sides.
Made to order
These aren't made in Maryland. We keep bamboo blanks in stock in our workshop in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and engrave each board after you order. Boards ship within 1 to 3 business days in a plain box, so wrap it yourself or have it sent to you first. Add carrier time before a wedding date. See every board on the Maryland collection page.
