The Captivating History of Old Bay: The Spice Blend That Belongs on (Almost) Everything
There are certain foods that remind you of who you are. Flavors you grew up with and couldn’t live without. You share them with friends and associates so that they can relate to you a little better. These foods deliver a matrix between past and future in an extremely impactful way.
Old Bay is one of those foods. Ok, by definition it’s a seasoning, not a food, but it’s edible, so it counts. (Right?) I offhandedly remarked to a friend that Old Bay was my go-to seasoning, and he frenziedly rattled off 150 things I had to try it on. He was commanding. I love that! And I’m going to actually try all of those things. But first, let’s talk about the genesis of this phenomenal product.
What is Old Bay?
An aromatic blend of salty, savory goodness, Old Bay is a seasoning that ignites memories of summertime seafood bakes. A legendary collaborator for crab, in particular, this seasoning has become a mainstay for all sorts of dishes.
In the 30-plus years since Old Bay was acquired by the foodservice giant McCormick, the seasoning blend has made its way into spice cabinets far beyond its hometown of Baltimore and the surrounding Chesapeake Bay area – making it arguably less of a Maryland thing. Thus, it should come as no surprise to know that Old Bay works with far more than mid-Atlantic blue crabs. But what most people are unaware of is the engaging history of Old Bay.
The Brunn Family
German-Jewish immigrant, Gustav Brunn, and his family fled Nazi Germany and settled in Baltimore, Maryland in 1938. Before leaving Europe, the Brunn family ran a successful fur and rawhide business, often selling spices on the side. When the value of the German mark plummeted in 1923, the fur business became unstable and the family turned to spices for their primary income. Their business was wholesale, selling seasonings and spices to food industries. As the Nazi Party rose to power, Wertheim, their hometown, became an unfriendly place for Jews and the Brunns moved their shop to nearby Frankfurt where there was a higher Jewish population.
In 1937, Brunn and his family applied for visas to the United States. The plan was to leave by the end of 1938, but that changed on the night of November 10, 1938. Kristallnacht (or the Night of the Broken Glass) was the mass program that destroyed synagogues, Jewish businesses and schools, and the first time the Nazi regime arrested Jews on a massive scale.
The next day, radio announcements called for all Jews to surrender their firearms to the nearest police station. Brunn, an avid hunter with eight rifles, complied. Upon arriving at the police station, he was told that he couldn’t leave. Within hours, Brunn was taken to the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Remarkably, after two weeks, Brunn was released bearing a shaved head and suffering from pneumonia. Brunn’s early release was arranged by a Frankfurt lawyer for 10,000 marks, a hefty price at the time, who bribed the Gestapo. Within a week, Brunn, his wife and his two children sailed for America bound for Baltimore (where Brunn already had family) with his hand-crank spice grinder in hand.
With a background as a spice merchant, Brunn found work making seasonings at a sausage factory on Lombard Street in Baltimore, but that was short-lived for presumably prejudiced reasons.
He turned to a group of Jewish men and philanthropists, which included Aaron Meyer and Julius Strauss. One of them introduced Gustav to Charles McCormick, who at the time was very interested in breaking into the wholesale sausage spice business, an industry that Gustav knew well. McCormick hired him on the spot, but again he was let go quickly, this time attributed to his lack of facility with English, though Brunn’s son, Ralph, said that after McCormick learned Brunn was Jewish, he was promptly fired and told to “go and see the Jewish charities.” Although Brunn experienced rampant antisemitism in his lifetime, he continued to persevere.
Chasing The American Dream
After the setbacks, Brunn decided that the only way he could succeed was to start his own company, but he had no capital. Brunn had to secure a loan from Katz American to open his spice business. Katz American was not a bank. It was another spice company. As a fellow Jewish spice merchant, Katz put profit aside to help Brunn start his business. After securing a loan from Katz American, Brunn created the Baltimore Spice Company. The company took up residence on the second floor of 26 Market Place, and the hand-crank spice grinder began to turn once again.
The Baltimore Spice Company was in a good location just across from the bustling Baltimore Wholesale Fish Market. It also was in an area of grocers and meatpackers, many of whom were German or spoke Yiddish. With these advantages, Brunn began what evolved into a profitable business. To even better his chances for success, he went to night school to learn English.
The industry of World War II kept the Baltimore Spice Company afloat. Pepper was nearly impossible to find during the war, so Brunn invented an imitation pepper out of buckwheat. It was incredibly popular and the Brunn’s spent their days filling large orders for the military.
Old Bay Is Born
Initially, Brunn processed and sold single spices and blends of all kinds, including pickling mixtures and pastrami rubs. His specialty, which he perfected back in Germany, was sausage seasoning. But it was unsurprising that seafood seasoning would follow.
Area vendors came to order custom blends for their steamed shrimp and crabs – relatively simple blends of mustard powder, black pepper and salt.
Brunn thought he could do better and created his own blend that built on the basic mixture of spices with a little bit of this and a little bit of that until he had an amazing innovative blend – one that was savory and a little sweet and a little hot and incredibly delicious. The only problem was … no one really wanted it!
It was difficult to convince seafood vendors to buy it in the beginning. As we mentioned, each fish peddler made his own spice blends and was reluctant to try anything else. (There was ego involved here, folks.) But Brunn was generous with samples, and when the fish guys offered the blend to their customers, the customers wanted more.
The spice blend began to catch on, but it needed a cooler name. Brunn had originally called it “Delicious Brand Shrimp and Crab Seasoning,” which certainly explains what it is, but the name lacked pizzazz. Luckily Brunn had a friend in advertising and he suggested renaming it Old Bay after a steamship line between Baltimore and Norfolk, Virginia. The catchier name stuck and further solidified the seasoning’s ties to the region.
Rise In Popularity
The spice blend caught on and Brunn began selling Old Bay to grocery stores 82 years ago in 1942. As Old Bay gained in popularity, guess who noticed? McCormick. Yup. The same McCormick who fired him. Over the years, they would try to buy his recipe, or copy it, or make something better, but it was impossible.
Meanwhile, the Baltimore Spice Company grew from a small family business to a firm with annual sales of about 40 million with factories in the U.S. (4), Dominican Republic (1), Costa Rica (1), and Israel (1).
The spice company (still family owned) produced more than 20,000 seasoning blends, primarily for sale in large quantities to food processors and food service firms.
Only Old Bay, packaged in now-famous square yellow and blue tins, was sold on the retail market.
For 44 years, Gustav Brunn (and his son Ralph) made Old Bay and sold it to the public who used it to flavor their seafood, but didn’t stop there. Old Bay became a popular topping for French fries (they’re called crab fries, obviously), deviled eggs, popcorn, poultry, corn on the cob, Bloody Marys, roasted nuts, cornbread, and even melon. There was nothing this spice blend couldn’t improve (or at least its fans weren’t willing to try).
McCormick, upset by Old Bay’s rising demand, began packaging their own crab seasoning in a similar looking can. Then when Brunn attempted to join the American Spice Trade Association, McCormick threatened to leave. Over the years, McCormick tried to buy the Old Bay brand, but Brunn rejected every bid.
Since McCormick couldn’t buy Old Bay, they were determined to copy it. The spice conglomerate relied on a law that required companies to declare the ingredients on the back of packages. Brunn, aware of this possibility, kept his recipe safe by omitting his four main ingredients.
When Brunn was 92, he finally sold the company (for an undisclosed amount) to SCM, a diversified manufacturing company based in New York City and the parent company of Durkee Foods, Famous Foods, and Smith Corona typewriters.
In 1986, Hanson Industries (based in England) acquired SCM.
And in 1990, McCormick finally got their hands on Old Bay by purchasing the brand from Hanson (for an estimated 11-14 million dollars).
The origin story is incredible. The man who was meant to be executed in Nazi Germany, escaped and went on to create one of the most popular spice blends in the United States, is surprising enough, but when you add in the fact that McCormick fired this spice genius and then spent the next several decades pursuing him and his creation … it’s hard to fully comprehend.
What’s Really in Old Bay Seasoning?
Despite its historical renown and modern popularity, no one knows for sure what Old Bay seasoning really is, except for the folks at McCormick (using Brunn’s original recipe). In addition to the confessed paprika, dry mustard, pepper, and celery salt, the blend is a kitchen sink of 18 spices: Ralph Brunn told The Baltimore Jewish Times, that “to his father’s amazement, those minor things that he put in there – the most unlikely things, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves – had nothing to do with crabs at all – gave a background bouquet that he couldn’t have anticipated” … Old Bay, per se, was almost an accident.
Why Is Old Bay So Popular?
Old Bay Seasoning’s iconic packaging boasts “For Seafood, Poultry, Salads, Meats.” That’s not inaccurate, but it does undersell the spice blend that’s inspired dozens of recipes for steamed shrimp, fried chicken, aioli, seasoned vodka, spiced oyster shooters, and picklebacks. In fact, Old Bay may be the best-known American spice blend, despite some regional favorites. While other spice blends like curry powder and Chinese five spice vary from cupboard to cupboard, Old Bay is Old Bay across the country.
Ways to Use Old Bay Seasoning Beyond Crab and Seafood
Old Bay Seasoning is a must on steamed blue crabs, but at The Food We Know we love it with other foods too. By all means, sprinkle it liberally on all your steamed shellfish and in shrimp salad, but try it in other ways and see if it doesn’t become your go-to spice cabinet secret weapon.
Don’t stop at seafood.
Sprinkle it on corn on the cob
Instead of salt and pepper, try Old Bay on your corn. Use it alone or in tandem with melted butter or even mayo (sort of like an East Coast twist on elote).
Use it on your favorite snacks
Give your favorite snacks a fresh kick with Old Bay – sprinkle atop popcorn, potato chips, tots, or use it to jazz up veggie chips from kale to carrots. It’s great on simple roasted vegetables too.
Add it to tomato-based vegetable soups
Reach for Old Bay when a stew or soup seems to need a little more complexity. It works in gazpacho too.
Use it to spike cocktail sauce or hot sauce
Mix together ketchup, hot sauce, apple cider vinegar and Old Bay for a perfect sauce for dipping shrimp.
Use it in a Bloody Mary
Old Bay adds a nice, subtle kick and makes a great rim in place of salt.
Add to flour when dredging chicken or fish
If you are looking for an easy way to season before frying or baking, this is it. It is also a delicious trick for chicken wings.
Sprinkle it on deviled eggs or mayo-based salads
Try Old Bay as a garnish for deviled eggs or a seasoning in egg salad. It’s great in potato salad and chicken salad too. Basically, Old Bay + mayo + anything = “more please”.
Use it on avocado toast
Or just sprinkle some on a ripe avocado and eat it with a spoon – it might become your new favorite snack.
Add it to the brine
Calling all canners! Old Bay adds flavor to homemade pickles and adds extra zip to cucumbers, onions, and any other veggies you want to preserve.
Use it as a seasoning for roasted nuts
Homemade roasted nuts flavored with Old Bay can become addictive.
Add it to your next scramble
Simple scrambled eggs and omelets are elevated from a touch of Old Bay, as are eggs Benedict, especially if they involve seafood. As you might imagine, a crab frittata would readily welcome it too.
Mix it into BBQ rubs, marinades, or sauces
Old Bay is ideal for meat marinades – chicken, seafood, even pork and beef. The blend tastes good on pretty much everything, and with some smoky flavor from the grill, it’s dynamite. You can find high-quality spice blends, including seasonings perfect for marinades and sauces, in the Ingredients Collection at Cassandra’s Kitchen.
Shake some on your pizza!
A simple cheese or pepperoni slice is instantly enhanced with a dusting of Old Bay. And a white clam pie is likely to be another prime candidate for the treatment, for obvious reasons.
Bake a batch of Old Bay cornbread
It adds a piquant layer of flavor that plays well with the inherent sweetness of the bread.
Try some on ripe melon
This might seem a little odd, but think about the Mexican fresh fruit snacks spiked with lime and chili powder – swap in Old Bay and it’s a surprisingly refreshing combo for summer snacking.
Want More?
Today, Old Bay is more popular than ever, and you can buy Old Bay beer, Old Bay ice cream, Old Bay Goldfish crackers, Old Bay hot sauce, and even Old Bay vodka. You can wear an Old Bay T-shirt while you air your grievances about the recent change in Old Bay packaging. (McCormick went from a metal tin to plastic, and people about lost their minds, as they should have.) You can get an Old Bay tattoo. You can find hundreds of Old Bay recipes on the internet, and send all your friends Old Bay gift baskets. And at the end of the day, you can sit down to a pile of blue crabs and lick the Old Bay off your fingers and say a thank you to Gustav Brunn.