A "New Bay" Seasoning?

October 21, 2011 7:29 AM

How can I make an Old Bay-esque spice blend without the paprika?

I have a recipe for a baked crab dip (yield 3 cups) that I would like to make for a party. It calls for 1.5 tsp of Old Bay and I have recently learned that Old Bay has paprika in it. That's a problem because one of my friends is allergic and I'd like to fine a solution. To that end I see two solutions:

1. Construct a "New Bay" Spice Blend that mimics Old Bay without paprika. The problem with that is the ingredients list for Old Bay is a bit vague: Spices (Including Celery Seed and Red Pepper), Salt, Paprika, Sugar and Caramel Color. Does anyone have a more complete list as well as proportions?

2. Use an entirely different blend of spices? The remaining ingredients in the dip are cream cheese, milk, lemon, diced onion, Worcestershire, Dijon mustard, Tabasco and parsley.

Suggestions?

posted by mmascolino to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

Paprika seems like a weird thing to be allergic to, as it is sort of a generic term for dried and ground peppers (Chili, Bell, etc.). Do you know, specifically, what type of peppers your friend is allergic to? You may have to avoid any type of dried pepper spices altogether.
posted by brand-gnu at 7:37 AM on October 21, 2011

Best answer: From here:

1 tablespoon ground dried bay leaves
2 teaspoons celery salt
1-1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1-1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground mace
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

But leave out the paprika obviously.
posted by roofus at 7:38 AM on October 21, 2011

I would replace the paprika with a mix of cumin and cayenne pepper.
posted by spicynuts at 7:49 AM on October 21, 2011

Response by poster: I would replace the paprika with a mix of cumin and cayenne pepper.
I wouldn't expect any other solution from spicynuts.

As for allergic sensitivity, she loves spicy foods and has eaten all sorts of ground pepper dishes without any problems.
posted by mmascolino at 7:59 AM on October 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Paprika is a general term for dried chili peppers. In the US, paprika usually refers to ground flakes of mild varieties of red pepper. Sometimes it's smoked, sometimes not.

What we get in the store as cayenne pepper is paprika made from the cayenne variety of pepper, which are very spicy. What we get in the store as "crushed red pepper" is un-ground paprika made from a blend of cayenne, ancho, and other peppers with the seeds left in.

It would be useful to ask your friend if their allergy is specific strain of pepper, to all chili peppers in general, or to a result in the paprika drying process.

If it's the drying process, construct New Bay from roofus' recipe, omitting the paprika and cayenne, double the amount of tabasco, and add a tablespoon of Frank's RedHot.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:02 AM on October 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

On preview, it's probably an allergy to a specific cultivar (type of pepper), or something in the process of making store-bought paprika. I'd replace the paprika with ground ancho chiles.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:05 AM on October 21, 2011

Best answer: Celery salt is really the key ingredient that gives Old Bay that special flavor.
posted by gnutron at 10:21 AM on October 21, 2011 [2 favorites]

For a recipe that has other flavors and only calls for 1.5 tsp of Old Bay, you probably don't need whip a whole batch of "new bay". I agree with gnutron that the celery salt is the key flavor component in Old Bay, just use a pinch of that and call it a day! (by the way, celery is my secret ingredient in all kinds of tasty dishes!)
posted by dipolemoment at 11:10 AM on October 21, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I went with ancho + celery salt + black pepper and the dish turned out great.
posted by mmascolino at 5:41 AM on October 24, 2011