Old Bay Seasoning

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Old Bay Seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices that is currently marketed in the United States by McCormick & Company, and produced in Maryland. It is named for the Chesapeake Bay area where it was developed by German immigrant Gustav Brunn in the 1940s, and where the seasoning is very popular to this day. At that time, crabs were so plentiful that bars in Baltimore, Maryland offered them for free and seasonings like Old Bay were created to have patrons enjoy more beverages. Old Bay is just one of many crab seasonings created during that era, yet is one of a few that survived. Notable others are J.O. Spice and Baltimore Spice. Although it is not overly high in sodium, McCormick recently has offered a lower salt version of Old Bay Seasoning.

Old Bay Seasoning is named after a passenger ship that plowed the waters of the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore, MD, to Norfolk, VA, in the early 1900s. Gustav Brunn’s company became the Old Bay Company, producing crab seasonings in the unique yellow can container until the company was purchased by McCormick & Co around 1990. McCormick continues to offer Old Bay in the classic yellow can.

The seasoning mix includes celery salt, bay leaf, mustard seed, both black and red pepper, cinnamon, and ginger. It is traditionally used in Mid-Atlantic States and the northern Gulf Coast to season crab and shrimp.

In addition to flavoring seafood, the seasoning is often used as a topping on popcorn, salads, eggs, fried chicken, french fries, tater tots, corn on the cob, and potato chips. Potato chip manufacturer Herr’s produces a variety of chips spiced with the seasoning, and Utz distributes a “crab chip” variety with an Old Bay analogue spice. Early in its history, the Subway sandwich shop used to use Old Bay when mixing their tuna sub.^{[citation needed]} Old Bay is also occasionally used around the Chesapeake Bay region as an ingredient in Bloody Marys.

McCormick has a number of other products under the Old Bay banner, including seasoning packets for crab cakes, salmon patties and tuna, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce, and seafood batter mix. They also make other seasoning blends that mix Old Bay seasoning with garlic, lemon, herbs and blackened seasonings.