New Bay Seasoning ✠

Old Bay® Seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices that is produced in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland by McCormick & Company. It was developed by German immigrant Gustav Brunn in 1939 for steaming hard-shelled crabs. Today, Old Bay® is popular everywhere and is used to season nearly everything, from grilled fish, steamed shrimp, fried chicken, french fries, and potato salad, to vegetable dips. The exact recipe is a secret, but its manufacturers boast a world-famous blend of 18 herbs and spices. The little yellow and blue can lists as its ingredients salt, celery seed, red and black peppers, paprika, and the other 13 as “spices.”

Its leading ingredient is salt, listed as 640 mg per tsp. Its lower salt version boasts 30% less, at 380 mg per tsp. Neither list any potassium content, but the lower salt version probably has some, as most lower salt preparations do. I decided to make my own and leave out the salt, but use citrus powders instead. My 18 herb and spice version appears below.

I suppose I could have named this San Diego Bay Seasoning, but that water is 30 miles South. There is a closer inlet only 4 miles away, but somehow Batiquitos Lagoon Seasoning just doesn’t have the right ring to it.

• 1 tbsp lemon juice powder
• 1 tbsp lime juice powder
• 1 tbsp ground celery seed
• ½ tsp ground cayenne chile
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tsp bay leaf powder
• 1 tbsp leaf parsley, dried
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground mace
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground cardamom

• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• ½ tsp ground thyme

If any ingredients are not in ground form in your spice rack, put them into a coffee grinder and pulverize into powdered form.

Put all ingredients in a glass jar and shake until completely blended.