Bell's Seasoning Makes Stuffing a Year Round Treat!

For many New Englanders, when Bell’s Seasoning is mentioned in casual conversation, smiles spread across neighbor’s faces as they share their own memories of their favorite holiday stuffing. Having lived in New York nearly my whole life, it was a Yankee seasoning that was not familiar to me. My mother, however, had inadvertently been following a variation of Bell’s traditional stuffing recipe that had been given to her by a neighbor. Although she never actually found the seasoning, because it was not readily available in our grocery stores, it was a recipe she treasured.

When I was flipping through the pages of my family recipes binder recently, I came across the faded and creased newspaper clipping, from 1977, of the recipe that my mother had proudly followed: “Ellen’s Rice and Raisin Stuffing for Fowl.” For the first time since I began hosting holiday gatherings, I wanted to make it too. It was such a success at Thanksgiving, I decided to make it for Christmas.

Because Price Chopper in Marlborough has everything a savvy foodie needs, I eventually found it. At first, I had to ask a clerk to help me locate the tiny, bright, yellow box because it is a lot smaller than I had imagined. I assumed that such an important ingredient to the Bay State, would have been much larger. The boxes aren’t found on shelves with other herbs and spices either -- they are neatly arranged on the ledge above the frozen turkeys.

As reported by Aimee Tucker in New England Today, the seasoning celebrated 150 years of tradition last year, and has been a staple in families’ homes since 1867. “Immediately recognizable with its colorful, (now) vintage looking label, lettering, and hand-drawn turkey, Bell’s is the throwback that never left,” stated Tucker. Many homeowners keep a box of Bell’s Seasoning on hand no matter what the season. Guests inadvertently wander into the kitchen and then stay awhile -- sauteing minced onions with a few pats of butter and Bell’s just has that effect. It’s an intoxicating mixture of scents that always draws a crowd.

As with many New England staples, Bell’s creation was serendipitous. According to Jody Feinberg of The Patriot Ledger, “Boston chef and inventor William Bell actually was making a sausage seasoning when he decided, for unknown reasons, to use it for poultry, minus the salt.” Simple brown paper bags were originally used to package his highly guarded combination of rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme, and pepper seasoning. Imagine rows of small, paper bags lining the kitchen table in the Bell household until his business on State Street in the financial district of Boston was opened. It remained in that location “until Brady Enterprises bought the company from his descendants and moved production to its Weymouth factory and offices,” reported Feinberg.

Brendan St. George of Framingham, fondly remembers his father, Dick, being in charge of making holiday stuffing each year. “He made a huge amount because the turkey was usually enormous. He would start the night before, chopping onions and celery, and then he’d saute them in melted butter and Bell’s with lots of black pepper.” In his 43 years of living in Framingham, Dick never bought packaged stuffing mix. “Instead,” St. George said, “he used a paper, grocery bag to dry white bread beforehand. Then he would take the biggest mixing bowl my mother had in the cupboard, and mix it by hand. He’d place the bowl into the refrigerator overnight, and then he’d be up at the crack of dawn to stuff the turkey and put it in the oven.” St. George isn’t the only one to walk in his father’s footsteps. Each year, he mails a few boxes of Bell’s Seasoning to his sister all the way in Seattle. “And it wasn’t called stuffing! It was dressing!” added St. George.

Bell’s influence can be tasted almost anywhere. Ellie Lawrence of South Yarmouth, Cape Cod said, “I keep a small box of Bell’s around because you never know what you would like to season with it or when you’ll want to use it. It’s really good!” Her mother always used it in all of her stuffing, and so does she.

When searching through newspaper archives, I spotted a Bell’s Seasoning advertisement from The Boston Globe published in Nov. 1916. It proclaimed that this savory seasoning was “used and endorsed by hotels, clubs, restaurants, and families to flavor dressings for turkey, chicken, game, meats, and fish.” Clearly, William Bell knew what he was doing when he created his aromatic mixture. Over the years, Bell’s packaging and ingredients have never changed. It looks the same and tastes the same now as it did when women wore corsets and men wore top hats.

When my mother visited me over the holiday, she perked right up when I told her I had used Bell’s Seasoning in the stuffing recipe she had followed so many years ago. An empty bowl at the end of dinner confirmed that this will become part of my own Christmas tradition, one that I hope to pass along to my own children one day.