This '50's-Era Cult-Favorite Southern Seasoning Blend Is Poised For A Comeback

Quite a few foods from the 1950s that are perhaps best kept in the annals of your grandma's kitchen. The myriad of Jell-O- and mayonnaise-based salads can fade into obscurity without much fuss or fanfare (though many would mourn such treasures as the pineapple and mayo sandwich, a current favorite in the American South). However, one very vintage ingredient might just be worth dusting off and mixing into your next meal. 

The beautifully named Beau Monde seasoning mix may be unfamiliar to most home cooks these days, but it was once a mainstay in kitchens across America. It is trademarked by Spice Islands Seasonings, a company that produces both spices and seasonings. Beau Monde consists of a blend of celery seeds, salt, onion powder, and dextrose, a sweet preservative, and silicon dioxide, a flavorless anticaking agent. It's relatively simple, but its ingredients all add up to one potent punch of flavor. 

Components such as salt and onion powder are common in many dishes and provide a great base of flavors. Meanwhile, the dextrose adds that touch of sweetness that cuts the saltiness and rounds out the flavor of whatever it is added to. The real standout is celery seed, which has earthy, green notes. Celery is a standout in other seasoning blends as well, such as the surprisingly complex Old Bay. It can help give any dish a unique pop. Beau Monde is often used in dips and roasts, but there are many wonderful applications for this underrated blend.

Though for some, Beau Monde may seem like a cooking relic, many home cooks cite the blend as being a beloved family cooking tradition. The spice mixture is particularly popular in the South, where home cooks still churn out bowls of Beau Monde dip, made from a base of cream cheese and a mix of seasonings. Despite its popularity, there is no exact record as to who invented Beau Monde or when it came to be.

The earliest record of Beau Monde can be found in a 1959 recipe book produced by Spice Islands, though there are whispers of it possibly being a staple of 19th-century France, albeit not under the same name. Famous writer Ernest Hemingway incorporated the mixture into his rather complex hamburger recipe. Hemingway's use of the mix is perhaps indicative of its ubiquity, and in the 1950s and 1960s, Beau Monde was all the rage. The fashionably named ("beau monde" translates to "beautiful people" or "beautiful world" in French) seasoning was often the center of the party. In the decades that followed, the seasoning fell out of common use. Perhaps it is time for a Beau Monde revival. After all, we think the seasoning can go far and beyond the dip that bears its name.

We've already covered Beau Monde's dippable capabilities, but there are many more uses for the blend. After all, it is usually considered to be a general-purpose seasoning and has a pretty simple ingredient list that can suit many different dishes. One great way of using it is to add it to a dish such as roast chicken, which is easily customizable. You can mix Beau Monde with other spices or add it on its own as a dry rub for a basic but foolproof roast chicken. You can also add the blend to heartier dishes, like a pot roast. Beau Monde can add a balance of savory and sweet flavors that can complement the rich flavors of beef, as well. 

Then again, you can take your Beau Monde in a seafood direction. After all, it shares a celery component with Old Bay, an ingredient that works well with foods such as shrimp or crab. You can add Beau Monde to a creamy crab salad, sprinkle it over a crab cake, or simply make a Beau Monde dip to pair with your shrimp cocktail. Really, there are no limits to its uses, so grab a bottle and get to shaking.