Crab cakes (or crabcakes) are patties made of crab meat. They vary in size, from no bigger than a small cookie to a large hamburger. They are usually served with some sort of sauce, usually being a remoulade or tartar sauce or sometimes ketchup.
They are especially popular in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, due to the proximity of the ocean and crabbing industry. Any kind of crab meat can be used, although Blue Crab is traditional in the Delmarva region of the United States, and is purported to have a flavor that stands up to the other ingredients better than other varieties such as Dungeness crab, or blue crab.
Today, the majority of crab meat used in crab cakes comes from imported crabmeat from the Chesapeake Bay, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Mexico. Crabcakes are served in a variety of restaurants, from seafood buffets to high-class sit down restaurants.
The premier form known as Maryland (or Maryland Style, outside side of the Chesapeake Bay region) however comes from the Chesapeake Bay region. The Phillips brand of Baltimore, Maryland has become the area's most well known seller of crab cakes in recent years, however it is noted that the origins of the modern crab cake came from Crisfield, Maryland.
The two most common style of Maryland crab cakes are known as Boardwalk, and Restaurant. Boardwalk crabcakes, are typically deep fried and breaded often filled with stuffing of various sorts and served on a hamburger bun. Restaurant crab cakes or sometimes called gourmet are served with no filler, all lump blue crab meat, and served on a platter or open faced sandwich.