Old Bay Nation is a cultural history of Maryland’s most iconic seasoning—Old Bay—a spice blend that shaped the way a state eats, remembers, and belongs. From Chesapeake crab feasts and Baltimore kitchens to global reinterpretations and digital nostalgia, this book explores how Old Bay became a permanent fixture in Maryland identity and American food culture. More than just a cookbook or a regional history, Old Bay Nation: A Spice, A State, and a Cultural Obsession blends food history, immigrant stories, maritime labor, and personal memory into a powerful narrative of continuity. Author Bill Johns, known for his nonfiction cultural narratives rooted in the Chesapeake Bay region, traces how a 1939 invention by a Jewish spice maker fleeing Nazi Germany evolved into a sacred can on the countertop—used by instinct, never by measurement. The book chronicles how Old Bay seasoning made its way from the docks of Baltimore to steamed blue crabs in backyard feasts, from working-class lunch pails to TikTok feeds and diaspora kitchens. It captures the intimacy and improvisation of regional cooking: deviled eggs seasoned by feel, popcorn shaken with spice while watching Orioles games, watermelon salted with a flavor that feels like home. Johns walks the reader through immigrant spice routes, the rise of crab as ritual, the branding nostalgia behind McCormick’s acquisition of Old Bay, and the digital mythmaking that gave rise to memes, merchandise, and bagels laced with childhood memory. In exploring pop culture, cookbook culture, and culinary tourism, he asks bigger questions: Who owns a flavor? What happens when a hyperlocal seasoning goes national? Can taste carry memory, and can seasoning preserve identity? The book also turns to global kitchens, political speech, and sustainability efforts in a changing Chesapeake. Old Bay becomes a language that Marylanders speak fluently and outsiders adopt reverently. Its adaptability is part of its mythology—spicing not just seafood, but stories. In profiles of chefs, families, and lifelong users, Old Bay Nation reveals the seasoning not just as a recipe ingredient but as a cultural reflex. The kind that turns a kitchen into a memory and a meal into a form of storytelling. Perfect for readers interested in American culinary history, Maryland culture, regional identity, or the sociology of food, Old Bay Nation honors those who’ve always known that you don’t cook with Old Bay so much as live with it. Whether you're a lifelong Marylander or someone who just fell in love with crab chips, this book offers more than origin stories. It offers a way to think about seasoning not as flavoring, but as inheritance—passed down without words, measured by feel, understood by those who knew it before they could name it. Come hungry. Come curious. And bring a can for the counter.