Nearly Old Bay — Homemade Old Bay Seasoning
Old Bay is one of those seasonings that doesn't exist in rural Spain — not a chance. If you're cooking from Casa Adora in the middle of Andalucía and an American recipe calls for it, you have two options: ignore the recipe or make your own. This homemade Old Bay seasoning came about because I kept hitting that wall. So I went back to basics, worked out what makes Old Bay tick, and built my version from scratch using what I could actually get my hands on. It's close. Very close.
What Makes a Good Homemade Old Bay Seasoning?
Old Bay was created in Baltimore in the 1940s, designed specifically for crab and seafood — the Chesapeake Bay blue crab to be precise. It's since migrated onto fries, popcorn, chicken wings, corn on the cob, and pretty much anything that needs a lift. Americans reach for it without thinking. In the UK — and certainly in rural Andalucía — you reach for it and find nothing there.
The difficulty with building a homemade Old Bay seasoning from scratch is balance. Get it wrong and one ingredient takes over. Too much celery salt and it dominates everything else. Too much clove and suddenly your spice blend tastes like Christmas. Too much paprika and you've got a generic BBQ rub that bears no resemblance to Old Bay whatsoever. The real thing sits awkwardly between a herby fish seasoning and a smoky American rub — which is exactly why nothing in the UK quite matches it.
The Nearly Old Bay Recipe
This is my version. I've tested it on chicken, on fish, on roasted vegetables straight from the Casa Adora kitchen — and it works. The key is patience. Make the blend, seal it up, and leave it overnight before you judge it. The flavour blooms. What smells slightly sharp and uneven on day one settles into something altogether more coherent by day two.
- 4 tbsp celery salt
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne powder
- ½ tsp ground bay
- ¼ tsp ground mace
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- Pinch clove powder
- Pinch allspice powder
Combine everything thoroughly, seal in an airtight jar, and leave overnight before using. Store in your spice cupboard — it keeps well for several months, though in my experience it rarely lasts that long.
Why Nothing in the UK Quite Matches It
UK spice blends that come close tend to split into two camps. You get the herby fish seasonings — lighter, greener, more dill and parsley — or you get the BBQ rubs, smokier and sweeter with heavier paprika. Old Bay sits stubbornly between those two worlds, which is what makes it so distinctive and so difficult to replace off a supermarket shelf. This homemade Old Bay seasoning doesn't pretend to be identical to the tin. But it's close enough to use wherever the real thing is called for — and in rural Spain, that's good enough for me.
Find more homemade seasoning recipes in the Nearly Series.
Find more recipes and food adventures here. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef.
