Rare Bay Seasoning

What’s the secret to great crab cakes? If you say Old Bay Seasoning, you’re only partly correct. Old Bay’s Crab Cake Classic, a seasoning mix for Maryland-style crab cakes, is what many crab cake experts use (see H6). It’s much harder to find than regular Old Bay Seasoning, which is in almost every market. The crab cake mix contains bread crumbs and egg solids. These help the cakes hold together. The only other ingredients you need are crab meat, fresh or canned, and mayonnaise. And if you prefer crab imperial, the mix packet offers a recipe for that too.

Old Bay Crab Cake Classic seasoning mix, $1.99 at Santa Monica Seafood, Santa Monica, Orange and Costa Mesa.