In Search of Orange Gold: Part 5 - To the Kitchen

Over the course of this blog post series, I have undertaken a long journey that began long before there was an Old Bay seasoning, the State of Maryland, and even the United States. The journey began with the first nations and later the colonists, who introduced certain spices into the area. They used those ingredients, such as allspice and mace, to add flavor to recipes, especially ones involving the local seafood. Fast forward a century or so, and the story changes as a German immigrant and his spice grinder reach the city of Baltimore. That immigrant, Gustav Brunn, opened his spice business near a popular seafood market and eventually created the blend that would become Old Bay. I even focused on the ingredients in the Old Bay mix, pouring through books and searching the Internet to learn about each and every ingredient. I have reached the point where I must put down the books, close the research tabs on my browser, and actually go to the kitchen to apply what I have learned. In other words, it is time to actually try to make Old Bay seasoning ... from scratch.

The real stuff ...

This effort faces two hurdles, one created by Gustav Brunn and another created by myself. As to the first hurdle, as you may recall from the previous post in this series, Brunn created the Old Bay seasoning using 18 different herbs and spices. Only 15 of those ingredients have been identified with any degree of certainty. Those ingredients are: (1) allspice, (2) black pepper, (3) cloves, (4) mace, (5) mustard, (6) nutmeg, (7) paprika, (8) celery seeds, (9) salt, (10) celery salt, (11) bay leaves, (12) crushed red pepper, (13) white pepper, (14) cardamom and (15) cinnamon.

That leaves 3 mystery ingredients. In many ways, I think that is  exactly what Brunn intended. The spice business was surely competitive, with many proprietary blends and mixes. If one could come up with a popular mix, there was money to be made selling it at the markets, both to other sellers and customers. Of course, success also garners attention, especially from potential competitors. Brunn did not want others copying -- or worse, improving (if that could be done) -- his spice mix.  For that reason, he chose ingredients that people would not think of when it came to a seafood spice blend. He also held his recipe close, not ensuring that not all of its ingredients would become public knowledge. 

... up close.

Needless to say, I wanted to see if I could figure out the three remaining mystery ingredients. I pulled out my copy of The Flavor Bible. I created a chart with all fifteen ingredients on one side. I then began looking for the most compatible herbs and spices with each of those ingredients. A list of candidates began to emerge, and, it soon grew to be almost as large as the original 15 ingredients. In the end, my rudimentary analysis produced 14 possible herbs or spices that could complement the ingredients of Old Bay. These ingredients include anise, caraway, chervil, coriander, cumin, fennel seeds, garlic, ginger, oregano, rosemary, sage, star anise, thyme, and turmeric. 

Some of these candidates are easily disqualified. For example, turmeric was out because it turns everything into a golden yellow color. I could also rule out anise, fennel seeds, and cumin because both spices have rather unique aromatic and taste elements that usually stand out, even when mixed with other ingredients. Rosemary and sage also have a lot of volume and would be readily noticeable, even when blended together with other herbs and spices. And, there were some, like caraway and chervil, that matched only a couple of the ingredients that we already know are in Old Bay. Based on the foregoing observations, I was able to narrow the field down by more than half. 

The remaining contenders were coriander, garlic, ginger, oregano, thyme and star anise. Of these six, the top three ingredients -- meaning the three that had the strongest matches with what was already in the Old Bay blend -- were coriander, ginger and garlic. (Cumin was tied with garlic in third overall, but, as noted above, the strong aroma and taste of cumin would be noticeable, even if small amounts are used.) Each of these ingredients makes sense in its own way. Coriander has a nutty or citrusy smell, which would work with the other ingredients. Ginger seems like an ingredient that Brunn would choose because it is something that one would not necessarily think to use in a spice blend that goes on top of blue crabs. And, garlic is, well, garlic. 

Gustav Brunn's spice grinder. 

One last challenge, Brunn owned and operated a spice company. When he created Old Bay, he most likely started with whole spices, using the spice grinder that he brought with him after escaping Nazi Germany. It seems only proper that in trying to recreate Old Bay that I would use as many whole spices as possible. 

Adjustments need to be made when one goes from using ground spices to whole spices. According to Epicurious, a teaspoon of larger spices such as allspice, cumin, fennel or juniper berries will provide approximately 3/4s of a teaspoon of ground spice. Smaller spices, such as celery seed, usually provide about 1 teaspoon of ground spice for 1 teaspoon of whole spice. Still other spices - such as cardamom and coriander - have a one teaspoon of whole spices equaling 1/2 teaspoon of ground spice.  In sum, I need to figure out the proportions spice by spice. I undertook this task for each of the spices that I had in whole form. Even though I used whole spices, I have left the measurements as they should be for ground spices. I have noted the whole spices that I used with an asterisk (*).

In the end,  I prepared what I thought could be reminiscent of the Old Bay seasoning. Once I finished mixing the ingredients, I immediately noticed that I did not have the right color. I don't know how Gustav Brunn (or McCormick Foods) gets that bright orange color, but I could not recreate it in my kitchen. (The only thing I could think of - which I know is not possible - is to mix a little turmeric which the paprika hoping that the yellow and red would produce an orange color.) 

As for the taste, I think I came much closer to the real thing. The large amount of salt, along with celery salt, helped in that regard. However, I noticed more bay leaf in my mix than in the traditional Old Bay. This stronger sense of bay leaf may be because I did not grind the leaves finely enough or it may be that five leaves are too much. The next time I try to make my own Old Bay-style seasoning I will probably make some adjustments in that regard. As for the three ingredients that I added (coriander, ginger, and garlic), none of those really shone through. The reason lies with the amount used, which I kept at 1/8 of a teaspoon.

The final verdict is that, for my first effort, this was a fairly decent attempt to recreate an Old Bay-style spice mix with 18 ingredients. I will continue my work (when I have the time) to refine this recipe further.

CHEF BOLEK'S OLD BAY STYLE SEASONING

Recipe adapted from The Daring Gourmet

Ingredients:

1.      1/8 teaspoon ground allspice*
2.      1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper*
3.      1/16 teaspoon ground cloves*
4.      1/8 teaspoon ground mace
5.      1 teaspoon ground dry mustard*
6.      1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
7.      2 teaspoons sweet paprika
8.      1 tablespoon celery seed
9.      3/4 tablespoon salt
10.      3/4 tablespoon celery salt
11.      5 bay leaves
12.      1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes*
13.      1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
14.      1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
15.      1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
16.      1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
17.      1/8 teaspoon ground coriander*
18.      1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Combine all of the spices together. Store in an airtight container.

*    *    *

Now that I have attempted to make an Old Bay style seasoning, it would seem that my search has come to an end. That may not necessarily be the case. Who knows? There may be a second series where I explore the use of Old Bay as an ingredient in making dishes (as opposed to simply dumping it on crabs). Only time will tell. Until then ...

ENJOY!