Coddies.

Though they just tried their first one yesterday, it’s no surprise to me that my boys like coddies. It’s in the genes.

Don’t know what coddies are? Check out Cod Piece in the City Paper. Quick excerpt below.

Sometimes an era can be summed up by the most mundane of things. For many Baltimoreans whose childhoods hark back to the 1960s and earlier, for example, the era in which they grew up is entwined with the memory of a deep-fried fish treat served up on a mustard-slathered cracker….

The coddie, which seems to have made its appearance locally in the early 1900s, peddled by Russian Jewish immigrants in East Baltimore, could have easily been dismissed as a poor man’s crab cake. But they were a perfect fit in a town already wild about seafood, and coddies grew in popularity. It probably helped that they were cheap back when they first hit the scene–2 cents apiece in most places, the price rising to around 5 cents each by the ’60s.

So, my great-grandfather was Samuel Sherman of Sherman’s Coddies fame. Okay, fame might be a teensy bit of an overstatement. But around here, coddies were very popular! They’re still around in some places, but harder to find.

But yesterday at the Fells Point Festival, we walked past a food vendor selling coddies! Yes!

The boys were a little nervous to try them but they loved ’em! (Important to note that we do not put mustard on ours. Andrew might, and most people do, but me and the boys? We’re purists. Plus, I hate mustard.)

We even stopped back for more a few hours later after we walked and shopped and hung out. It was a beautiful day. Perfect weather. Everyone happy.

Nothing makes a great birthday like a day with the family. And great coddies.