Zatarain and Old Bay are both made by McCormick. Its okay.

Whew. Thanks. Although now, come to think of it, why shouldn't we invent a new one and give them some competition? I hate monopolies. Post recipes below. EL

McCormick owns both the Old Bay and Zatarain's brands. See the lower left hand corner of this link:

http://www.mccormick.com/

It is actually wonderful for steamed shrimp. That bag is super easy and you don't have to clean up all the spices and such because it is contained. The bag + a can of schlitz was my grandmother's recipe and it is a keeper!

I haven't used it for crabs though - not salty enough.

As Mark said, both Old Bay and Zatarain's were assimilated by McCormick.

Zatarain's crab boil is what they use to boil crabs (and shrimp and crayfish) in Louisiana. It's sold in cloth bags that are thrown into the cooking water. The seasoning is very similar to Old Bay.

A crab boil with that bag of Zatarains seasoning is a whole different thing from steaming crabs with a dousing of old bay or whatever crab seasoning, I am partial to JO.
I have 2 boxes of that crab boil at home, a friend brought it back for me from New Orleans, I have yet to use it because I have had boiled crabs before and personally just don't like them, they are all waterlogged and the meat is mushy.

Both products were acquired by McCormick. Old Bay was acquired quite a long time ago and Zararain - originally a New Orleans company - was acquired, I think, just a few years ago. IMS

They were smart enough not to mess with the formula for Old Bay and to keep the eye-catching box.

I can't speak for Zatarain's since I never tried it.

Zatarain's is a recent acquisition of McCormick's. the company has been around for many years.

Our friends in Baton Rouge swear by this and other Zatarain products. When we visited in January, they had made a gift basket of local products which featured many Zatarain products. We were going to prepare shrimp in the crab boil but knew we couldn't eat the 4 pounds called for in the instructions. Maybe when we have company...

first off i thought it was a great article. But was i the only one that found it bad (and ironic) that of all the crab cake places they went to review, they decided to not include their very own winner of "best crab cake 2007"?

What was it? EL

Oh Hal, how could you?

See how different they are:

Ingredients :Celery Salt (Salt, Celery Seed), Spices (Including Mustard, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Cloves, Allspice Ginger, Mace, Cardamom, Cinnamon), and Paprika.

Ingredients: MUSTARD SEED, CORINADER SEED, CAYENNE PEPPER, BAY LEAVES, DILL SEED, ALLSPICE

Any Marylander that doesn't know which is which, well, there's a bus leaving for Biloxi at dusk.

I know this is going to be unpopular but ...
I have lived in Baltimore on and off for a number of years and I still don't understand the obsession with crabs. And crab cakes seem to me to be a complete failure to use an ingredient properly.

I know you're looking forward to the blog's Crab Week in May. Are you back? When are you going to eat at Salt? EL

OMG-You have just lost all credibility! Might as well pack up all of your food comments and move to wherever the "off" has been located the past few years.

Oh Hal, how could you?
See how different they are:

Mr. Zombie-Pig, I didn't say they were the same, I said they were similar.

One day at my house we were about to steam some crabs and discovered we had insufficient Old Bay left in the cupboard. So we decided to make some from scratch. What really surprised us was how much celery seed was required to get the flavor profile right. Old Bay has a lot of celery seed.

Am getting closer to Baltimore. A couple more days of work-related stuff in Paris and I'll be back in Charm City. I am really looking forward to my long-delayed dinner at Salt. I assume Tobit will be joining me.

}8>{=
... is that the attack owl? I forget.

Trusty manservant Harpsichord Barry should be tuning up the Owlicopter, if he can put down his plectra long enough. As I was Eule Fleischsoße, for now I am Sauce au Jus de Viande de Hibou. Owl Meat .. away!

Hey Owl Meat Gravy-

Doom on You for hating on crabcakes, but I get it. Not everyone is going to like them. I almost never eat them myself.

If you're in Paris, look up Robert et Louise in Marais. Big fire-burning fireplace in the back where they cook their meats. Try the 2 person Cote du Beouf - it's outrageous. And the gambas and sausage are quite good. So good, I ended up there twice in the week I was there.

I agree with hon's feeling that J.O.'s crab seasoning is better than Old Bay and that boiled crabs = mushy, flavorless crabs

I've only lived in Baltimore a year myself and no I don't think I'll ever really enjoy crabs. I enjoy the cakes but not the crabs. However when the call comes from my friends that we're going to Captain James' for crabs I do know damn well that I'm to suit up and go have some crabs. I look at it as social ritual really which is a lot more fun.

What a shame that places like Louisiana (and the Carolinas) that have plentiful crabs all year long, ruin them by boiling them. McCormick should distance themselves from any product that is made for boiling crabs!

FYI - City paper's best of 07 crab cakes was Dudas'.

Thanks. EL

Crab boil is a different animal all together. *Liquid* crab boil is where it's at, as they say. While we're on the topic of spices, on the cajun side Tony Chachere's puts Zatarains to shame!

I understand that in Virginia they not only boil their crabs, they serve them with [shudder] drawn butter. What a waste; and the indignity visited upon those poor, lovely crabs! Thank heaven for Old Bay.

Those of who grew up eating steamed crabs all summer long can not even understand why anyone would want to boil them.

One weird thing I remember from my childhood is that we were not allowed to have ice cream until several hours after we had the crabs. My mother swore that the Old Bay would curdle the cream in our stomachs and make us sick.

But the ice cream (fresh-churned from fruit picked the same day) is a whole other topic best left for summer.

I tried Zatarain's a few times but it doesn't compare to Old Bay...at least in my book. On the subject of crab cakes, in the Baltimore area here are my top choices...

# The Narrows on Kent Island
# Olive Grove in Linthicum
# Timbuktu in Hanover
# Obrycki’s in Baltimore

Great post. -The Crab Cake Guy

On the competition note...when I was little, my parents and grandparents used to sometimes (not always) use Wye River seasoning instead of Old Bay.

For a little while, they swore by it, though I don't really remember much of a difference.

There was also one summer when, if I remember correctly, my dad seasoned all our crabs with some mysterious combination of spices he had in a plastic bag in the pantry. I'm guessing it was my grandfather's personal recipe. Thinking back, now I just hope it was all legal...and I'm glad I lived through it...

Old Bay ice cream!

Old Bay ice cream! What an exciting idea.

But seriously, my "kitchen buddy" and I actually made this one summer for hubby's birthday. It wasn't too bad. Hubby must have really liked it because he ate a big whole lot of it.

Whatever happened to Angelino's restaurant? Frequently rated the best, I found them exactly to my taste. Moved way out west (Mount Airy) and haven't followed the Baltimore restaurant scene much since. Guess they're gone?

As a relative newcomer to this area, I must admit the crabs really aren't my favourite thing in the world, but I love the passion that they stir in everyone and reading everyone's memories of having them.

Hi I know this comment is criminally late, but I just wanted to mention that I did indeed sample a crab cake from the Roland Park Eddie's, and in fact I found it strikingly similar to the Charles Village Eddie's offering. I decided to include only the latter because of the lower price, hoping it would better illustrate the vast range in cost. Also, I'd like to point out that I didn't start writing for Citypaper until late last year, and was not involved in choosing the "Best Of" crab cakes for that '07. I would most certainly have lobbied for a different winner. Lastly, and I digress, but I tasted Old Bay ice cream at Maggie Moo's and thought it thoroughly sucked.

I would be very surprised if Old Bay ice cream really tasted good.

Old Bay ice cream? Old Bay sounds bad enough, but using it in ice cream is up (down?) to Iron Chef standards.

And I though the Maryland fish tacos (seasoned with Old Bay, natch) at Sinaloa Torterilla were threatening sounding...

just put a lot of work into making http://www.crabplace.com/recipes.asp the ultimate crab recipe resource...

Because I'm told to eat more fish, and I don't like fish all that much, I soak an orange roughy fillet in skim milk for a half hour, then rinse and pat dry.
Then I put two tablespoons of lemon juice on ot (or squeeze a medium lemon on if I have one) and then sprinkle some Old Bay, or Zatarain's Creole Seasoning on them.

tasty, for sure.

By the way, down here on the Gulf Coast, Old Bay and Zatarain's are plentiful.

For quick dinners, I've made a mixture of mayo & brown mustard and Old Bay (it's about 3/4 c of mayo and a teaspoon or 2 of mustard and Old Bay shaken in) and smeared it all over frozen talapia filets which then bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes or so. May be longer for you - I looked in my oven once and saw Satan in there dancing in the flames! It's a hot oven. My son then shakes more Old Bay over his fish when they come out of the oven. They are kind of poor mans imperial. And an easy dinner for Old Bay lovers.

Ok, I have to finally ask. Y'all talk about Old Bay all the time. I've figured out it's a spice of some kind.

I looked in the store and couldn't find it.

Do you put it on everything?

Now I know what you're getting for Christmas. EL

PCB Rob, do you cook those orange roughy filets?

Bucky, You can probably order it through McCormick Spices.

For those of us who love it we put it on steamed shrimp, steamed crabs,broiled scallops, shrimp salad, fish,tuna salad,potato salad,macaroni salad, fried chicken, corn on the cob, popcorn, sweet potato fries, and probably a bunch of other stuff that I just can't think of right now.

It is not something I'd put on steak, pot roast or desserts, but hey, that's just me!

Bucky -- further to Joyce W.'s comment, the official Old Bay website has online shopping available.

Bucky, just put celery seed to a depth of an eight of an inch on whatever (fish, crab, ice cream, coffee, etc.), and you'll have a close approximation.

Hal,
Yes, I cook them. I like baking them (covered) for about 15 minutes.

Wow...Old Bay sounds pretty useful.

"...steamed shrimp, steamed crabs, broiled scallops, shrimp salad, fish,tuna salad,potato salad,macaroni salad, fried chicken, corn on the cob, popcorn, sweet potato fries, fish, crab, ice cream, coffee..."

I'll find some. Even if I have to order it on-line.

Bucky,
I'm kind of surprised the grocery stores out there don't carry it. Maybe its because the BRS is landlocked? It would still be great on the fish you catch.

Its tasty stuff.

I just looked at the grocery store. I'll go over to the meat market; my guess is they might have it.

I can't wait to try it on ice cream the way Lissa suggested.

Bucky, I'd wait, were I you.

I love Old Bay more than life itself. What I love most about eating crabs is licking all of the Old Bay off first (with my fingers, not actually licking the crabs). Oh! and Old Bay wings. To die for. Nude and crispy with tons of Old Bay. Now those could almost go with (dare I say it) RANCH DRESSING.

I love Old Bay more than life itself.

Now THAT'S commitment.

For the foreign wing of the Sandbox (well the feathered one is away so I'm not ruffling his feathers using that name) Old Bay is so ubiquitous that one of the local crisps makers (Utz) has Old Bay crisps on offer and they are sold throughout the area (as in groceries, sub shops and 7-11's.)

[Opps, saw a typo and hope I hit the cancel button quickly enough to avoid the double posting.]

nothing compares to old bay

chas, isn't that a Prince song made famous by Sinead O'Conner?

Eh, Old Bay is just celery salt with a bad attitude.

Hate the stuff.

Longtime listener, first time caller. Long story short, I was Miss Old Bay 1984. It makes me cry inside when you talk like that Lisa. As the veteran of several parades and some super exciting supermarket gigs, I have a special place in my heart for what I like to call Maryland curry.

Welcome to the Sandbox, Spice Girl. (Now, how many members of the Girls' Club does that make now?)

Hey Spice Girl - Tells us what you want, what you really, really want... ;-)

Spice Girl,
Lissa is from the Detroit area, so (bless her heart) she doesn't know what Old Bay means to us Bawlmer natives.

(Note to Lissa: Baltimoreans are REAL provincial! :-) )

Yeah, its a lot of celery seed and other stuff, but its the Spice of Maryland.
MD curry, that is a good name for it!
I'm just glad I can buy it here in Florida.

Spice Girl, MD curry is an excellent name for Old Bay. A little shout out to ex-radio show Don and Mike with "Longtime listener, first time caller"?

Don't despair over Lissa's disregard for Old Bay. She's a ferner.

Yep, I'm a furriner. Just as you all would have no clue what to do with Vernor's, I don't grok Old Bay. Celery just isn't my favourite thing.

Glad you chimed in, though, Spice Girl. We need frequent infusions of new blood or we get stale and soggy.

Lissa, another furiner here. I don't share the love for Old Bay either. Just a touch on steamed crabs or steamed shrimp, but that's it.

Oh soggy bloggers sounds bad.

My husband like to put Old Bay in his beer now and then.

Well, Spice Girl, depending on the beer of his choice, that might be an improvement.

Btw, are you Sporty, Scary, Baby or Posh?

Crabby Spice of course.