Old Bay Seasoning

I’m new to Maryland, so I’m using THE SOUTHERNER’S HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO LIVING THE GOOD LIFE, a gift from a friend, to help get settled.

A great way to meet neighbors when you’re new is to offer packing boxes in the neighborhood group chat. Julie and her two boys, ages 10 and 8, stopped by to get boxes and brought us a lovely welcome gift of some of their favorite things from the area: Capital City Mambo Sauce, Baltimore Bee Co. honey, Bee Food seeds, and Old Bay Seasoning.

Before I get into the connection between this gift and THE SOUTHERNER’S HANDBOOK, I have to talk about these boys. They were thoughtful and polite and full of questions. Where does this little door go? What about this one? Can we go up there to see the view? Can we climb this? It was so cool to see Lolligogin through their eyes because they got it. They got that the long driveway is made for bicycles and that the wet bar with the little shuttered doors that open and close is where you play restaurant. They went off to explore and within seconds we heard metal clanking because of course they found the dangerous fireplace tools. I’m looking forward to showing them the Hagrid Hut next time they visit.

So, back to their gift. Specifically, the Old Bay Seasoning. The back of the package says that Old Bay Seasoning was born in the Chesapeake Bay area in 1939. I dug deeper online and found this fascinating history of how Gustav Brunn fled Nazi Germany with only a spice grinder and the clothes on his back and created a new life for himself in Baltimore. In the 1990s, Old Bay was bought by McCormick & Company, which is a bit of a fun fact for us because we drive by McCormick’s headquarters in Hunt Valley all the time.

You learn quickly that crabs are a big part of life in Maryland, where the brackish water of the Chesapeake Bay provides an ideal habitat for them. According to THE SOUTHERNER’S HANDBOOK, “Generations of Southerners have passed long, lazy days of summer catching blue crabs. Among them is Lee Barber, game manager at Sea Island’s Broadfield sporting club in Georgia. ‘To me,’ he says, ‘there is no better way to spend an afternoon than going out to catch crabs and then sitting down to cook, pick, and eat them.” The editors give detailed instructions on how to “Catch and Pick a Blue Crab” and suggest adding Old Bay seasoning (“if you use it, don’t be shy”). I have a great memory of visiting my Special Olympics International friend and co-worker Angela on the Eastern Shore and eating delicious soft-shell crabs that her mother caught earlier in the day.

I’m sure we’ll catch and pick blue crabs at some point, but for now I’m going to try the three recipes on the back of the Old Bay package: crab cakes, steamed shrimp, and hot crab dip. We might also have to revisit the Low Country Boil we did during Country of the Week: USA.