Looking to give your spice rack some, errr, spice? Or put some zing in your favorite recipes? Try a dash of Old Bay, the mid-Atlantic seafood seasoning staple.

This bold spice, named after a steamship line, was created by German immigrant Gustav Brunn back in 1939. Having recently arrived in Baltimore, Brunn used his handheld spice grinder to create a secret combination of celery, bay leaves, mustard, red pepper, ginger, and other ingredients. The concoction caught on and quickly became the spice of choice for his crab-crazed adopted region.

Regional now only in spirit, thanks in large part to mid-Atlantic transplants who begged local markets to stock the iconic tin, the Old Bay brand was bought by spice giant McCormick in 1990 and sold more than 4.2 million tins in 2005. This expansion has led to new uses by inventive home cooks who sprinkle it on popcorn, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and even ice cream. Although Old Bay eggs sound strangely intriguing, our favorite use for this überspice is still on all things crab.

Tom Douglas, Seattle chef extraordinaire and award-winning cookbook author, grew up in Delaware and remembers transporting tins of Old Bay back with him from trips home. Douglas tested more than 100 crab cake recipes for his new book, I Love Crab Cakes!, and he used none other than his favorite childhood spice to add the distinctive mid-Atlantic flavoring to his Chesapeake Bay crab cake recipe. "Old Bay is a classic," says Douglas, that's "reminiscent of where I came from."