Long before it was trendy to serve sustainable, local, and organic food, Maryland native Shields was doing it at Gertrude's, a modest modern restaurant tucked inside the Baltimore Museum of Art. This fall he reissued his prescient chronicle of the waterman's way of life and traditional cooking on the mid-Atlantic coast. It includes how to 'pick' steamed crabs (seasoned with Old Bay, natch), prepare country sides like Green Beans With Country Ham and Sauteed Peanuts, and make the quirky relish known as chow-chow. -- April Fulton National Geographic's food blog, The Plate