Brilliant Ways Chefs Are Using Old Bay This Summer

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To anyone who cooks any type of fish they know the importance of Old Bay seasoning. However, there are some chefs who understand the tastiness of this particular seasoning and have created some great ways to use it this summer.

For Atlas Restaurant Group’s corporate chef Aaron Taylor, Old Bay is a popular ingredient. “Old Bay works great in the summer because it is so versatile,” Taylor says. “[It] adds a great punch to any dish, especially a chicken or shellfish dish,” Taylor says. Pair your Old Bay oil chicken with an IPA or summer ale to complete the meal.

For a tasty summer snack, try out some Old Bay edamame. That’s what’s popular at the Fish Hawk Oyster Bar at the Tides Inn in Irvington, Virginia. “We love utilizing Old Bay in hollandaise and aioli, which adds flavor to a fried soft shell crab plate without overpowering the crab itself,” says general manager Stuart Barwise.

A fixing at most, if not all, barbecue gatherings, potato salad can go really well or really bad. So why not automatically know your potato salad will be great by putting Old Bay seasoning in it. Orion Russell, the executive chef of Greenpoint Fish & Lobster in New York, finds Old Bay to be a perfect beer complement. “People often rim their beers with it. I myself have enjoyed many a Natty Boh [National Bohemian Beer] with a rim of Old Bay,” Russell says.