November 20, 2006
Charm City Superfudge
The Berger Cookie is undoubtedly Baltimore’s greatest contribution to world confectionery. The product of German immigrants to Baltimore in 1835, it’s also easily the single most decadent cookie we’ve ever had. The ultra-soft cookie layer of each Berger “chocolate creme” is dominated by the rich fudge drapery that tops it. In fact, as soon as you back the plastic from the charmingly vintage packaging, the enticing aroma of fudge beckons.
In addition to packaging that hearkens back to an earlier time, the cookies themselves are suggestive of a bygone era. Unlike other packaged cookies that are uniform in shape and size, Bergers are handmade and hand-frosted. This means each of your Bergers is utterly unique.
That’s because the extra-thick layer of fudge, which is nearly a half an inch at its thickest point (yes, we measured), is applied in an absurdly generous schmear that can barely be contained by the limited surface area of the cookie. As a result, the fudge tends to droop over the cookie in odd formations with distinctive wave patterns--like chocolaty stalagtites. What's more, the actual amount of fudge can vary dramatically from cookie to cookie.
This, of course, leads to dilemmas when sharing your Berger Cookies with others. Some folks have to have the one cookie in the box with the greatest ratio of fudge to cookie, while others are content with a more equal distribution. But even the one Berger Cookie with the least amount of fudge relative to its peers is rich enough to sate our cookie jones for several days.
Although the Berger Cookie has been around since the mid-19th century, its distribution outside of Baltimore remains limited. Despite the fact that Baltimore is an inner suburb of Washington, Berger Cookies are currently distributed to just seven locations in the immediate D.C. area. Fortunately, the Berger Cookies folks were kind enough to provide us with a list of their D.C. area purveyors. Just like your crazy roommate who is searching desperately for a store with the Wii, it’s always best to call ahead to make sure that they’ve got the goods:
Rocklands Barbecue
2418 Wisconsin Ave., NW
(202) 333-2558
Wagshal’s Delicatessen
4855 Massachusetts Ave., NW
(202) 363-5698
The Italian Store
3123 Lee Highway
Arlington, VA
(703) 528-6266
Rocklands Barbecue
25 S. Quaker Lane
Alexandria, Va
(703) 778-9663
Bradley Food and Beverage
6904 Arlington Rd.
Bethesda, MD
(301) 654-6966
Chevy Chase Supermarket
8531 Connecticut Ave.
Chevy Chase, MD
(301) 656-5133
Snider’s Supermarket
1936 Seminary Rd.
Silver Spring, MD
(301) 589-3240
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Imagine my delight to click on my DCist link in my "favorites" to be greeted with a picture of the Berger cookie....single-handedly the best cookie ever...thank goodness I'll be goign home to Baltimore for Thanksgiving.
The saddest days are when the Italian Store on Lee Highway runs out of these. They are soooo yummy.
These cookies dominate. I think the package used to say 'homade' instead of 'homemade', too. I could be wrong though. Trying to remember back to my days in B-more.
It's been a while since my last sighting but I have seen these in Brookville, the grocery story in Cleveland Park. Yummers.
As a Baltimoron myself, I've been trying to get DCers addicted to these for some time now. The Wegman's in Hunt Valley, MD stocks them; if someone asked, they would probably stock the other area Wegmans as well.
Despite the fact that Baltimore is an inner suburb of Washington...
Them's fightin' words to Baltimoreans.
The Greenbelt Co-Op has Bergers on hand sometimes.
A link to Wagshal’s Delicatessen was added to buyindie here: http://www.buyindie.net/stores/show/374
The only thing I miss more is a snowball stand on every corner.
PGCist,
RE: "Despite the fact that Baltimore is an inner suburb of Washington..."
One of the editors apparently inserted that jab. I guess it's some sort of in-joke that I'm not aware of.
The sentence in the piece that I originally submitted actually read (before their edits) : "Despite Washington’s proximity to Baltimore . . ."
Ari,
Maybe it's editorial commentary on the fact that DC area workers are commuting from BFE towns in WV & PA? So, Balto. can now be considered an "inner 'burb" of DC?
Go figure.
We have a filter that automatically changes any mention of Baltimore to mention how it's an inner suburb, northeast neighborhood, bedroom community, or some such. Just a little wink to our friends at DCist Go Home. Background on the subject is here.
New look is fine. But what happened to the list of other DC blogs? Don't make us go searching for "In Shaw" and "Columbia Heights News", that is half the reason I come to DCist.