That's true...of folks in Maryland as well as everywhere else. Just like gumbo, everyone's crab cake recipe is different, in Maryland as well as elsewhere. So there is no one, right recipe. As mobile as chefs are these days, it would be silly to think crab cakes can't be made well anywhere the right crab can be purchased. As a Marylander I wouldn't be offended by the notion that "Maryland" crab cakes can be as good in Houston as in Baltimore. I would take it as a compliment. The greatness of the dish has led to its universal adoption. If it were true that you could only get good crab cakes in Maryland, how many of us would even know about them?

Now Buffalo wings...that is another topic altogether.