My name's Mike Rowe.
This is my job.
On this episode of Dirty Jobs,
we start with a fish story, and it ain't pretty.
Somewhere below the surface of the mighty Mississippi,
way down there in the mud,
a fortune is just waiting to be recovered.
If I can keep my eyes on the prize,
and my butt in the boat.
[Mike] We just might give the Russians a run for their money,
in a high-stakes game of caviar harvesting.
And later, things heat up as I visit J.O Spice,
a family-owned crab seasoning company in Maryland.
Who's delicious spice is often confused with Old Bay.
How do you when it's too much spice?
[Mike] Today, I'll correct that misperception once and for all.
And learn the secret recipe
that has earned this company's seasoning
legions of adoring fans.
Get ready...
...to get dirty.
[opening theme music playing]
[laughing]
Awful.
[drilling]
[Mike] Wow!
♪ Yeah, it's a dirty job ♪
♪ But someone's gotta do it ♪
[playing piano]
Hello. I'm Mike Rowe, and if you're like me,
you like to relax at the end of a long day
and enjoy the finer things in life.
Great music, good friends,
the best champagne money can buy.
And most of all, the finest caviar of the world.
Which begs the question, do you really think I went all the way to the Caspian Sea
to harvest fish eggs from a beluga sturgeon?
Mm.
No, I didn't.
I prefer my caviar little closer to home.
-Zack! Come on. -Ok.
I refer specifically to the little town of Clarksville, Missouri,
where you will not find an abundance of beluga sturgeon
packed with delicious roe.
No, here you'll find a roe in search of delicious fish eggs,
packed inside the elusive shovelhead sturgeon,
somewhere out there in the mighty Mississippi.
Let's go get some.
Come on Zack!
My search for caviar begins with a search for the husband and wife team
from "Show Me Caviar."
Who have agreed to give me a taste of what it takes
to get high quality fish eggs out of a shovelhead sturgeon,
and into your mouth.
I think I found the happy couple.
-I'm guessing that's Cliff and Cara. -[Cliff] You guessed right.
-This is my big entrance, what do you think so far? -[Cliff] Uh, not bad.
-Right. My man. -[chuckles] How are you? Mike Rowe.
-Cara Rost. Nice to meet you. -Cara Rost.
-Permission to come aboard? -Come aboard.
Does this uh...
[clears throat] ...boat have an official name?
Uh, Hillbilly Deluxe.
[both laugh]
That's what it says on the front.
[laughs] Does it really?
Not to overstate the weirdness of what's about to happen here
but it's worth repeating that the most expensive food in America
is being harvested by the modest crew of a boat called The Hillbilly Deluxe.
Carry on.
Really, caviar?
-In the Mississippi? -[Cara] Mmm-hmm.
Absolutely. Yeah.
How long you been doing this?
20 years.
-Married couple are ya? -Yeah.
-How's that working out? -I've been doing it for about last three, I love it.
I love coming, I mean, you know.
Oh, I was talking about the marriage.
-Oh, [laughing] I love that too. -[laughing] Hm.
-[chuckling] Good. -[Cliff] Yeah.
What are the odds we're going to...
is it shovelhead sturgeon?
Shovelhead sturgeon, yeah.
So are the odds very good we're gonna find some?
-Extremely good? -Eh, we're gonna find some.
-Guaranteed? -Hm. Eh.
-If you're willing to guarantee success -If... If you say "guarantee",
-it jinxes the whole thing. -Yeah, yeah. We're fishing.
I'm tempted to ask if you've ever had a little roe in your mouth.
But it'd be weird coming from me
-so I'm not gonna say it. -[both laughing]
[Mike] For the record, fish "roe" and Mike "Rowe" have almost nothing in common.
Including the way they taste.
Or so I'm told.
-There is one thing you need to be careful of though. -What's that?
-She's got a seven-iron from... -I do.
There's a seven-iron there in the front of the boat.
You just keep this on hand to keep everybody in line?
And by everybody you mean him.
Yeah, I'm clear up there if he's back there...
-...You know I can wing it and if I'm not a great shot, -Right.
I still have a pretty good chance.
Yeah you're a pretty good shot 'cause this thing's...
got some good rotation on it.
Exactly.
-It's... It's bound to find a mark. -Exactly.
Or leave one.
So where's the bucket you're talking about
getting the water in and dumping it into the thing?
Uh, there's a bucket in here
that we'll need to get water into and put it in here.
[Cliff] Can't tell until we got fish in the boat!
[Mike] That should...
-Extra weight no good? -Yeah.
-No. No. -No. It's one of the...
You know, you can't guarantee you're gonna catch a fish thing.
You just don't say it.
You don't put the water in,
you don't say you're gonna catch the fish...
-If you do... -So we're talking straight up superstition, right.
Right, right.
Yeah. Don't... Don't count your fish before we got 'em in the boat.
[Mike] Like many other fishing operations,
Cliff and Cara's business relies on their ability
to keep their nets in constant use.
Like all other fishing operations,
their business also relies on luck.
Which is why every fisherman I've ever met, and I've met a few,
are superstitious right down to the bone.
And how deep is the water out here?
-18 foot right here. Yup. -18 feet.
[Cliff] Cara, you ready to go?
[Mike] That blue thing floating around out there
marks the location of the first fishing net we'll be retrieving.
And yes, there will be more than one.
Scoop up the buoy.
You gonna yank on that.
Assisting us in the business of hauling in the net,
a hydraulically powered wheel.
[Cliff] Eh! Got one right out the bat.
-[Mike] There's a sturgeon. -[Cliff] Is that what we're looking for?
[Cliff] Not big enough to keep, but it's what we're looking for.
[Mike] Removing the fish from the net is simple.
Of course simple and easy are two very different things.
You wanna watch out for these little guys here.
[Cliff] Smaller the fish, the sharper they are.
-Interesting. -And then whenever you get down the back, same way.
All the way down till here, little barb.
Now this is razor sharp through here.
-That will tear... -Razor-sharp.
Tear you up in a heartbeat.
-Especially if you go... against the grain? -Oh, yeah. Ugly.
Is this a female?
Mmm. Nope. I think, male.
[Mike] If you're a sturgeon in the Mississippi river,
you wanna be a male.
Trust me on this.
You might get scooped up in the net,
but at least you'll live to fight another day.
Look at it, it's a hideous fish.
[snickering]
-[Cliff] I know. Isn't that mouth wild under there? -Look at that.
Look at that mouth, man.
On the downside, you're always gonna be ugly.
Look at that.
If he could talk, he'd be sayin'...
...well, "Throw me back" I guess.
And no amount of luck is gonna change that.
-[Cliff] Throw him back. Yeah. -[Mike] All right.
[splashing]
Is this a male?
[Cliff] No, that's not a male.
Well, that's good news.
Like I said, a decidedly sexist operation.
To ask the obvious question, what...
-How exactly can you tell? -All right, let's get...
-The... The blue line? -Blue line, right down the its belly.
We're gonna check her to make sure.
[Mike] The deeper and darker the blue line,
the more mature the fish.
Females are called hens, by the way.
-Tell me what you're doing, exactly. -Trying to draw an egg.
-[Mike] Oh, ok. -[Cliff] Yeah.
[Mike] Ah.
Now, you want your initiation?
Sure. Oh you...
What's it taste like?
[snickering]
Gotta tell you, it kind of tastes like caviar.
That's good news.
So we don't... we don't need to clean it
or anything when we go back?
All right, no, I think, maybe, I think maybe I gave the wrong answer.
-I think maybe it tastes like unclean caviar. -There you go!
Now... now... now that I really let it marinate
there... there's an aftertaste.
[Cliff] Is there?
[Mike] This hen is 22 inches.
That means she's a keeper.
All right, we got one.
[Cliff] Put her in a tub and as soon as...
[exhales]
Oh at some point you're gonna have
-to put water in there. -[Cliff] Yeah.
I want to put some in there.
'Cause I don't think we're jinxing it now.
[Mike] Mature hens go into the live well.
Where they'll stay until we process them.
Without water,
the live well would quickly turn into a dead well.
So, if you're keeping track we got eight nets, we just did one.
We got a buncha stuff that we didn't want,
but we got one, uh, female...
...shovelhead sturgeon with eggs in it that tasted vaguely of poop.
The nets are stored in these plastic barrels
until they're redeployed, and the cycle begins again.
Well, I was planning on taking you out for supper tonight,
but if he can't kick it into gear little bit,
you'll be eating cereal before you go to bed.
[laughing]
-[Cliff] That's good right there. -[Mike] All right.
Perfect. Let's go get another one.
So, where's the second net?
-Wherever he goes to. -"Wherever he goes?"
And he's the captain, so...
Because you're... you're that obedient, subservient type of wife, right?
Oh jeez. [laughs]
-You know you're sitting right on the edge? -[laughs]
You're sitting right on the edge.
I live on the edge, Cara.
I... I don't even need seven iron or anything.
[laughs]
I'll take care of you right now.
Oh, there's something.
[Mike] Yeah, so I'm gonna pick... I'm gonna pick up this blue guy.
I'm still trying to figure out how they're running, like, the nets...
Are they going this way, or this way,
are they standing up?
They've got a weight line on the bottom, so that one's gonna go...
-Hey! Grab that. -There it is!
[Cliff] Oh my!
-Oh! Oh my! -[Mike] For goodness' sake!
-Here you go, sir. -Thank you.
-It's hard to try and get it out. -I was talking to your wife.
Cliff and Cara are a greased, well-oiled machine.
I am not part of that machine.
-You ready? -Yeah.
[Mike] I am learning, though.
And benefitting from the gentle guidance of my patient and understanding captain.
Go about... about as quick as you can.
-Keeps the boat in motion, when you're doing that. -[laughs]
-There's a fair amount of tension. -A little bit, yeah.
-[Cara] Mike, you need me to come help? Doing ok? -[laughing]
[all laughing]
You did make it look easy before, though.
Well, you got one.
Yup, there's one.
[grunts] Oh there's one!
Snuck in there.
That looks like that might be a "him."
You do remember I wanna take her out for supper tonight, right?
Just seems like with this wheel spinning, there would be more...
mechanical assistance.
-Yeah. -But I don't think there's really much.
-[Cliff] All right, that's good. -[bucket thudding]
Male, female?
Big old gal.
That's... That's the difference in the...
-That's what I'm talking about. -That's good.
-I mean, that's a no-brainer. That's a nice fish. -Yeah.
-[Mike] So, she's full of eggs? -[Cliff] Oh yeah.
[Mike] So it's a pale blue, almost a uh...
periwinkle.
[laughing]
-Right? Closest is periwinkle. -[Cara] Oh, isn't that...
-isn't that a pretty word. -You like that, Cara?
I like that.
-[Cliff chuckling] Periwinkle. -I try and use periwinkle, every other show.
[splashing]
I thought he put water in here.
-He put a couple buckets... -You know what?
I put two buckets and she said, "Good job!"
And the way she said it...
Well, I said, "Good job." because he set it down
like he was done.
-I didn't wanna make him feel bad like right out the bat. -[laughing]
-So I said, "Good job." -[engine revving]
Don't worry about it! I'll take care of it!
[Mike] Coming up...
I really don't see how that wheel is helping.
[Cliff] Believe me it does.
[whirring stops]
[Cara] Uh-oh.
That's a bad sign.
Woah!
[chuckling]
How many times you fall out the boat, Cara?
-I've never fallen out of the boat. -Never?
Welcome back to the placid waters of the mighty Mississippi
in Clarksville, Missouri.
Where I'm doing the greenhorn thing,
aboard the good ship Hillbilly Deluxe.
Fishing for one of the world's most ludicrously expensive foods,
caviar.
And how long will you let this net...
...set?
[Cara] Overnight.
Throw this out there.
Give a toss.
[splashing]
[Cara] Good job.
[Mike] So every time you haul a net,
you go back to the shore...
...to get the...
...catch out of the net...
[Cara] Mmm-hmm.
...and then reset the net?
-And then go pull another net. -Right. Right.
Oh, we're gonna be here all day.
[Cliff] Depends on how fast you help us.
[Cara] Yeah, exactly.
[Mike] Poor Cliff.
Doesn't he know I've been slowing people down
for 20 years on this show?
So, if you're keeping track we've got two nets.
One net is currently back on shore in a big, white barrel.
The other net, is been shook out and then...
...redeployed in a new area of the river, where hopefully the, uh...
...sturgeon are more abundant.
Where are we headed Cliff? I don't see any blue buoys.
-He's calling the blue floats, buoys now I guess. -[Cliff] Oh, oh!
-Ok. -[Mike] Did I call it the wrong thing?
-[Cara] You called it a buoy! -What is it?
[Cara] That's a buoy.
These are floats.
-Tomato, to-mah-to. -[chuckling]
[Cara] Gotta catch it this time. Oh, good job!
-[Mike] All right. -[Cliff] All right, here.
-You got to... -It goes just like so?
Yep.
I really don't see how that wheel is helping.
[Cliff] It does.
Believe me, it does.
[Cliff] Uh-oh.
-That's a bad sign. -[Cliff] That is worse than a bad sign.
[Cara] It is a bad sign.
Here. Sometimes in the reeds, you guys are going to have to cowboy up.
[Mike] So the motor, that powers the wheel that pulls the net,
has seized up,
just seconds after I questioned the effectiveness of said motor.
What a weird coincidence.
All right, this is where we learn that the wheel
really was doing something, wasn't it?
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, see, it's probably you saying that that caused it.
-You think? -[Cara] I think so.
So now, I'm... I'm the jinx.
Yeah. Move aside.
I'll get her unloaded, that'll make a little bit easier.
All right. [huffing]
Boat's only a 100 yards.
Shouldn't take long.
[Cliff] It's a long damn way to the other end of that, ain't it?
How long till that uh, motor up is back in...
-...operation? -[Cliff] Any minute now.
Something like that. Maybe it was working the whole time.
-[Mike] Oop! -[Cliff] It don't take long.
[Cliff] Yeah, funny how it just fires right back up, ain't it?
Yeah.
Hysterical.
I can't prove it but I' pretty sure that Cara was
was trying to create a teachable moment for yours truly.
Well, mission accomplished.
I admit it, life is better, with a hydraulic wheel.
Just in time, it seems...
...to hauling in that pool of sturgeon.
Oh, I just had a brainstorm.
I'd rename one of your boats, "The Sturgeon General."
-[both laughing] -Ah?
"The Sturgeon General"?
-That's good. -There you go.
-I like that, "The Sturgeon General." -[laughing]
Yeah.
[Mike] Fishing is unpredictable,
but it's routines are not.
Pull the net, clean the net, sort the catch, pack the net.
Repeat.
Then repeat some more.
Do it again tomorrow.
And the day after that.
It's a life style.
And it's not for everyone.
What's that farting sound out here? Is that the fish?
-[both laugh] -Is it?
[Cara] It's Zack.
It is the fish.
Not enough periwinkle.
He's lucky.
No periwinkle for him.
That means...
...back to the deep end of the pool.
In general, how much will you ship a year, in a good year?
[Cliff] 3,500, 4,000.
-[Mike] Pounds? -Pounds.
[Mike] But of course,
sturgeon isn't the only thing you catch out here.
[Cliff] There's the cockleburs.
-[Mike] Oh, this is the cocklebur? -[Cliff] That's the cocklebur.
[Mike] Why're you giving it to me?
[chuckling] Because I hate 'em.
They're really hard to get out.
Well, sure, these things are just nothing but...
if Velcro met a porcupine,
and had a really ugly baby.
[Cara] You really didn't know what a cocklebur was?
Yeah, I mean I've seen these before, but I didn't know that was their name.
That's a rule. I'm suspicious of...
...suspicious of anything with "cock" in it.
[laughs]
-Too much fishing, not enough catching. -[motorboat revving]
-When you tuck that anchor? Let that net run out. -[Mike] Yeah.
Don't pull that jug out right away.
He's saying... He's saying there's a jug right there.
-Right. -Don't throw that out.
-Just throw the anchor... -Don't throw that out.
-Just throw the anchor and get out of the way. -Yeah.
[Mike] All right.
[Cara] Ok.
Says that whenever it's coming up...
[Cliff] Don't forget about the jug on the deck!
[Mike] Whoa!
-[Mike] You don't want that out? -[Cliff] Whoa! Oh! Ok.
-It's good. It's good. You're all right, you're all right. -It's good?
-It'll be fine. -[Mike] That's a mixed message, man.
I do not want to screw this up.
Like I said, it's all routine and rhythm.
Scoop the float, clear the debris,
loop the line around the ever helpful hydraulic wheel,
and hope that Lady Luck is smiling on your efforts.
Oh, that's promising, early on.
[Cliff] Hey, Jinx-ster. He said it's "promising" right out the bat.
[Cara] That's what I was afraid of.
Well, then it should work the other way too.
This is doomed. We're never gonna see another fish.
[Cliff laughing]
Water temperature plays a big, big part of what we got going on.
[Mike] Cold is bad?
Yeah, but hell, if it was easy, everybody would do it.
Like how does the quality compare to...
the crazy, expensive stuff?
I mean, beluga's beluga.
That's what everybody wants.
-That's the stuff. -Yeah. Meh.
Well, I ate a bunch of this this morning, I thought it tasted pretty good but...
you know, I was pretty drunk.
[chuckles]
[chuckles] That's not true.
Do you... Do you eat it?
[Cara] I love it.
You're not just saying that?
-[Cara] No. -You gotta know what you're selling.
-You gotta? -I mean, you don't call us with a problem
once you're stuffed, 'cause we don't send anything out that's got a problem.
-That's... Yeah, good point. -So...
On the other hand, I don't watch this show anymore.
-[Cliff] Eh. Hm. You know? -[laughing]
[Cliff] Hand me that tub so we can go eat some lunch.
Please, of course.
All right, that's it.
Quick lunch break.
Don't go anywhere.
Speaking of lunch...
-Kinda a gut-wrenching job-- -Oh, oh! [exclaims]
Uh-huh.
[Mike] And later...
[man] We're gonna have to break that down.
-[sneezes] -Bless you.
[Mike] Seems like I might have a nose...
for quality craft spice.
[sneezes heavily]
[coughs]
[Mike] Welcome back to the banks of the mighty Mississippi,
where I'm harvesting fish eggs with Cara and Cliff,
of Show Me Caviar USA.
[Cliff] We need about 15 of 'em.
What would you consider a good haul?
60, 80 head be great.
So, I got you 15. All right.
I feel like that's all of 'em.
No, there should be more in there.
-Surely. -Really?
[Cliff] Surely. Oh, yeah.
-Here. -[Mike] Oh there's one.
-I didn't see that one. -Well, that was the biggest one in there, man!
-Well, she was hiding. -Oh my God.
All right, wait a second, you're just... you're just pulling 'em
up by magic there, that's...
-Oh! Up! -Here's another one.
You were right.
Huh! Imagine that.
Oh dear.
-This is a lightning rod, isn't it? -Yep, pretty much.
So, what're you gonna do?
We're gonna stick one on down on one side and one on down the other side.
[Mike] Cliff prefers to stun the fish before removing their eggs.
I'm guessing the fish prefer it too.
So is this painful for the fish?
Ain't never said nothing about it.
[Mike] They're not being electrocuted.
They're just being knocked unconscious.
Trust me, it's for the best.
Most of the times, I take my wet gloves off before I do that.
You know, that is an excellent tip.
Wanna see what's behind the gray door?
This place has a real feel to it.
Kind of place where you get a drifter to get his kidney out.
Too much?
[Mike] Obviously, it's important to look good
when you're removing eggs from a sturgeon.
So this is all necessary, of course, because we're... we're preparing food
that's gonna be shipped all across the country.
-Yep. -Correct.
[Mike jokingly] Honey, get in here, he's puttin' gloves on!
-There you go! -Got it.
Now we're ready to roll!
This is simple, but very important.
Now, I'm gonna cut straight across to here.
That line? Gotta stay away from it.
-[Mike] You gotta stay away from that blue line? -Right down side it, yeah.
[Mike] Uh-huh.
That's their main gut. That's what we're staying away from.
'Cause it's got sand in it.
-Nobody wants that. -Nobody wants sand.
They're a relatively tough fish.
So you got a little bit aggressive with 'em.
-They're as tough as they look, ain't they? -[Mike] Damn, they really are!
Now, we just gotta scoop all that stuff out, right.
-[Cliff] Oh, it's perfect. -I haven't heard you say "perfect" all day.
[Cliff] Yeah, I was pushing it there.
[Mike] Oh, shoot.
Now, do you feel like we got enough out of there or you...
[Cliff] It looks to me like you left about seven dollars worth in there.
Well, that's no good.
No.
Here, you have it down to about $3.50 now.
That's good, you got it.
[Mike] Nothing is wasted here.
After we harvest the caviar,
Cliff sells what's left of the fish...
Wow, that's full.
...to a company that sells smoked sturgeon.
It's not just about the eggs.
How much is that right there?
60, 70 bucks.
[Mike] You know, part of the reason
I'm still doing this crazy show
is 'cause I do think that it's important
people understand where their food
-comes from, you know. -Oh, absolutely. Sure.
[Mike] I'll bet you a lotta people would be surprised to know
that caviar... comes out of Mississippi.
A new routine and a new rhythm.
Slice, scoop, drop, repeat.
-Kind of a gut-wrenching job, though. -[exclaims]
Oh, ho!
Cara, you wanna grab these?
[Mike] There's an invisible line in this room
that separates the food-prep area from the butcher's table.
I'll cross that line in a minute.
-It tastes great with champagne. -[Cliff] Oh, yeah. Yeah.
-You can step right over here. -[Mike] Mmm-hmm.
The roe sacks we've just harvested
are rubbed across a mesh screen
to separate the eggs from the membrane.
Like everything else about today,
this process is repeated over and over again.
[sneezing]
Nice.
-Did you just throw it on the floor? -[Mike] No, I dropped it.
Throwing it on the floor would look like that.
[both laughing]
[Cliff] Do you want me to get you a seven iron?
[Mike laughing] No, not the golf club.
[Cara] Uh-huh.
So, now we have all those eggs inside this blue bucket,
with a bunch of a water.
Okay, now go ahead and dump very carefully.
[Mike] I'm losing a few, but you can live with that, right?
[Cara] No, no, that's what you have to do.
Those are gonna be bad ones anyway
that are either broken or have too much fat on them.
[Mike] So, all the schmutz is leaving, but not the good stuff.
[Cara] Right.
We are rinsing the hell out of this caviar.
Rinsing the fat right out of it.
You know that song "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair?"
-I was just thinking that same thing. -Really?
♪ I'm gonna wash that fat right off of them eggs ♪
-See, you got a song going. -Well, I'll be. Yeah, perfect.
♪ I'm gonna wash that fat right off of them eggs ♪
♪ And send them down the drain ♪
These eggs will drain for ten to 15 minutes.
And then the pickling process begins.
Oh, look at that.
Oh, boy.
-Now it's starting to look like something you'd pay for. -[Cara] Oh, good job.
So when that was done, we would put it into a stainless steel bowl...
-Mmm-hmm. -...and put the salt in.
-Mmm-hmm. -You stir it a certain number of times.
-Mmm-hmm. -[whispers] That's a secret.
-Secret time. Proprietary? -Yeah, secret.
Like what kind of salt you use,
how much salt you use, how many times you stir it.
So, there are a couple of things we can't tell you.
But we can tell you that it's salted and stirred
here in Cliff and Cara's garage.
-But that's all the detail you're gonna get. -"Garage"?
-This is a processing facility. -Uh, processing facility.
-Excuse me. -Sorry. Not a garage.
You sound like we're changing tires in here.
It's not a garage.
On cooking shows, they call this a swap out.
This is what the caviar looks like after the pickling
in all its stirred and secretly salted glory.
So, a container like this costs how much?
Anywhere from $400 to $800, $900 per pound.
[Mike] Starting to make sense now?
Cliff and Cara haul in 4,000 pounds of these eggs every year.
At $400 a pound, that's $1.6 million.
Routine and rhythm have their advantages.
I just want to say that this is what I did today, all right?
This is probably... how much?
6.82.
6.82 pounds. And how much a pound?
-$400. -$400.
This is roughly $2,500 worth of caviar.
There you go.
All right, look, I did the math in my head.
The, uh, fish made the ultimate sacrifice.
You were the ultimate hosts.
-Thank you so much. -Thank you.
You're the ultimate guest.
You're very kind. I'd love to chat,
but instead I'm going to walk through the gray door
and find my way off to my next filthy adventure.
Ladies and gentlemen, Show Me Caviar USA.
To sum up, if you'd like a little roe in your mouth,
and, really, who wouldn't, you've got options.
You could buy the imported stuff from Russia,
or you could support the hard-working crew
of the good ship Hillbilly Deluxe.
Personally, I'd just say "Nyet" to the Ruskies,
and let the good people of Clarksville, Missouri,
show me the best roe my money can buy
right here in the USA.
If caviar is not your thing, get a load of these beauties,
Maryland blue crabs steamed to perfection.
As a native Marylander, I've always considered myself
something of an authority on blue crab,
and the unique Old Bay seasoning
that makes them irresistible.
Well, turns out, there was something
I didn't know about my favorite food.
Something that's led me to J.O. Spice,
near my hometown of Baltimore,
where I hope to make amends
and atone for the sins of my past.
-[Tyler] How you doing, Mike? -Hey. How are you?
Tyler.
-Nice to meet you. -Awesome. Nice to meet you.
Yeah. Are you ready to get spicy today?
-Hmm. All right. Let's get spicy. -[chuckles]
So if you don't mind changing into the proper uniform.
And we'll get you geared up.
You know what, how can I say no?
-I'll do it. -Just right here, huh?
So, are you part of the family?
Well, my great-grandfather started the company in 1945.
Uh-huh.
When I come to Baltimore, two things I have to have.
I have to have crabs, and I have to see my folks...
-Absolutely. -...for lunch.
So, I've called my parents.
-And with your permission, or somebody's... -Absolutely.
...they'll come by and say hello.
But... But look, you guys gotta understand,
when you talk about Maryland blue crabs...
...it's like talking about hot dogs from Coney Island,
or deep dish pizza from Chicago.
But I wanted to talk to you guys specifically
about many social media posts over the years from me
have, uh, sung the praises of Maryland blue crabs and mentioned Old Bay.
-Yes, sir. -But you're not Old Bay.
We're not Old Bay.
Everybody thinks when they see that red, chalky stuff
on a blue crab,
they assume that's Old Bay.
And you're telling me that in many situations it's not.
Yeah, in the majority of the situations, it is not.
-"The majority of the situations." -So not even just...
It's very rare that you'll have Old Bay on your crabs.
What's on your crabs is J...
Who's "J" and who's "O"?
So that is my great grandfather's initials, James Ozzle.
All right. Now you know what I know, that's J.O.
We're gonna get to the bottom of the whole thing.
Yes, sir. Let's get started.
Something's going to happen back here that involves... spices.
[Mike] I've come back to Baltimore to clear up a misperception
that I'm guilty of accidentally perpetuating.
The misperception is this:
most people here think the seasoning on most Maryland blue crabs
is made by Old Bay.
Well, it's not.
Most of the spice on most of the blue crabs
is actually made by a family-run operation called J.O. Spice.
During the summertime, J.O. Spice produces 70,000 pounds
of crab seasoning every day.
That's 175 tons a week.
And for years, people like me have been giving
Old Bay all the credit.
That ends today.
-[Brandon] How you doing, sir? -This is Brandon.
-He's the manager over here. -Mike. How are you?
-Oh, man, I'm good, man. -Nice to meet you.
So, Bran, do we have a recipe that, uh, we need help with today?
Yes, sir. We're gonna work on this recipe right there.
Now how many different recipes are there?
We have over 200 different blends.
Not just crab seasoning.
From chicken blend, steak seasonings.
-You name it. -[Mike] Really?
So, right there, that's what we're gonna follow step by step.
That's the secret recipe. So, I need you to get me
ground red 23.2 pounds, please.
If you could find some ground red.
It's right in front of me. Elite ground red pepper.
-All right. -Yep.
Take that, and you'll put it onto this cart right here.
We measure 23.2 pounds of ground red,
we put it into this container here.
[Mike] At a glance, one could say that's a trashcan.
-Well, it's a food can. -[Mike] A food can.
That's... That's what we're gonna use it for.
[Mike] So back to the Old Bay.
Are you guys, like, fierce competitors?
We are.
And it's just been built that way
-from them getting-- -[Mike sneezes]
...them getting recognition that I feel like we have earned.
Yeah.
0.2.
-Perfect. -[Mike] Oh, look at that.
I gotta point out something. [clears throat]
That this proprietary recipe...
...when we get to the end of the list,
it may no longer be proprietary.
[laughing]
[Tyler] So we will gather 27.8 pounds.
So this is a large batch of whatever this is.
-Actually, it's a smaller batch. -Oh.
So we put together batches that are up to 10,000 pounds at a time.
-10,000 pounds? That's... -10,000-pound runs is what we do.
You wanna make sure that you're following the recipe exactly,
or else it won't come out right.
And the original recipe was an all-purpose seafood seasoning.
It's called J.O. No. 1.
[Mike] J.O. No. 1 was the company's very first blend.
It's still a fan favorite for enhancing the flavor
of seafood, meat, poultry, popcorn, French fries,
and anything else you want to spice up.
So you're gonna need a little, uh...
-[mouthing] -[whispers] Yes, sir.
-If you don't mind grabbing that off the shelf. -[coughing]
I will. [coughing]
Not sick.
[coughing harshly]
Yeah.
After being in here for 26 years,
you, kind of, get used to it.
Perfect.
[Mike] It smells good in here.
-It smells like everything. -[laughs]
So now we need... [inaudible]
-[Mike continues coughing] -[Tyler] I'll do it.
[chuckles]
[Mike coughing roughly]
Ah.
-Whoo! -You'll get used to it.
Yeah. Uh-huh.
-[coughing] -[Tyler] I promise,
it'll get better by the end of the day.
-Voila. -Boom.
So, now we will lift the heavy stuff...
-...after you sneeze. -[sneezes]
-[Mike clears throat] This stuff? -Yup.
-Now we zero that out. -Okay.
[Brandon] So, we need, uh, 69.5 of economy mustard.
[Tyler] That's a 50-pound bag.
[Mike] Guess this whole bag will go in then?
-[Tyler] Yep. -[sneezes]
[Tyler] You just make sure you get it all in
so we don't waste any product.
19.5 pounds.
19.5. How long you been here, Br...
-It's Brandon or Brendon. -Brandon, yes.
You've been here how long?
For 18 years.
-[Mike] No kidding. -Yes, sir.
[Mike] That's gold watch country.
Well, what's it like working for... for a family-run business
Just... Just like going over to your family
to grab a taste for Thanksgiving.
It's just every day feeling like that, you know.
-It's like a little slice of heaven here. -It is.
[Brandon] You good, that's good right there.
[Mike] Next we put in 148.5 pounds of salt.
That's about three bagsful.
J.O. Spice uses seven different types of salt in their seasoning,
ranging from coarse to super fine.
Depending on what kind of seasoning is being produced.
You see, there's big flakes.
That salt's necessary...
...because during the steaming process,
it has to adhere to the crab.
-Hair? -"Adhere" to the crab.
So it has to be stick.
I swear to God, I just thought you said, "We have to add hair."
Family recipe, since 1945, just a little bit of hair.
"Soylent Green is people."
And then we'll drop it up in the mixer.
[Mike] Before the mixing can begin,
we'll need a wardrobe change.
I'm not sure why.
Something to do with allergens, safety and regulations.
We'll get you in there. Look at that, man.
Oh, perfect. You've even got room to spare.
We're gonna need the boxcutters to get him out.
[Tyler laughing]
We just put your mixture
-that we did over there on top. -Uh-huh.
So, if you want to follow me up the deck,
-we're gonna dump it into the mixture. -Great.
[Tyler] So, in the summertime, this room gets hot.
-[Mike] Oh, man. -[Tyler] It gets about 110 degrees
-with the mixers on. -[clear throat] Yeah.
So, you can imagine, wearing jumpsuits in the middle of summer,
110 degrees.
Sweating like a whore in church.
Yes, sir.
Take these cans and throw it into the mixer.
-[Mike] Mmm-hmm. -Carefully dump that in there.
Uh-huh.
[Tyler] You see how some of that's clumpy?
[coughing] I do. Yeah.
So we're gonna have to break that down.
-[sneezes] -Bless you.
You just go ahead and...
[coughing]
...crush that in there.
Uh-huh.
-Are you all right? -Uh-huh.
-[sneezes] -Bless you.
[Mike] I don't know what's in the air,
but the overalls are not protecting me.
-Just some allergens, that's all. -Okay.
-[sneezes] -Bless you.
So just make sure you're not sneezing towards the mix.
Got it. No, I'm...
-You just don't want a sneezy mixture. -You don't want to add...
-...any, uh, super-special ingredients. -Absolutely.
Yeah. We're happy with the ingredients we have in it right now.
We're gonna close this up, and then we're gonna push start.
-Great. -And that's our seafood seasoning blend.
[Mike] After the spice has been mixed for 15 minutes,
we empty the mixer.
This blend is about done.
We're going to drain this mixer.
-Hold it like that. -All right.
You wanna squeeze that handle, Mike, and just pull that lever down.
There it goes.
I had no concept that you guys were cranking out
350,000 pounds a week.
With 15 people.
We're a family-owned and operated company,
and, uh, hoping to always be that way.
-[sneezing] -[Brandon] Bless you, Mike.
[Mike] Oh, geez.
[sniffles] Whoo.
-Good to go, Mike? -[Mike] I'm good.
-All right. -[Mike sneezes]
All of the stuff doesn't drain all the way out,
so we have to lock the machine out.
[sneezing] Excuse me.
And go brush out the bottom.
-Oh, a little lock out, tag out? -Lock out, tag out.
-So we'll switch this off. -[Mike] Yeah.
Put it right through there.
[Mike] With the mixer locked and tagged,
we start the process of cleaning.
[Mike clears throat]
-Here you go. -Thank you.
[Tyler] Do you see the bristles? They're blue.
-[Mike] Right. -[Tyler] If that were to fall into the blend,
we would catch that as we were packing.
So, if it was, like, a white
or something that looks similar
to the seasoning you're packing,
you're never gonna catch it.
So we use color-coded pretty much everything.
Even our pens are metal detectable.
-That way, if a pen were to drop into a box... -[Mike] Yeah.
...when you're sending it through the metal detector, it's gonna hit.
You go through that box, well, there's Brandon's pen.
So you've not only saved the company
an expensive and embarrassing lawsuit,
-you got your pen back. -[Tyler] Absolutely.
Is the big stuff pretty much out?
[Mike] The big stuff's out.
That's when you start your wash down,
which is that eight-hour process.
We're gonna give you a little taste of it by washing this mixer out
as soon as you're done sweeping it out.
How does it take eight hours to clean this room?
This entire room y'all see, it's white.
-It's like it just snowed in here. -[Brandon] Yeah.
[Mike] You gotta vacuum.
You have to wash every mixer, all the walls, the floors.
-[Mike] Everything. -Everything.
We'll go down and let that water out.
You'll get a little wet, a little spicy.
There you go.
Dirty to the last drop.
Still ahead...
So, how do you know when it's too much spice,
-or is there such a thing? -[woman] Never too much spice.
Oh. Don't touch me, Mike.
-Thank you for coming. -So this is what you do when you're not home.
Mom, Dad hadn't been on Dirty Jobs for many years.
Peggy and John. John and Peg.
Come on and say hey.
-How you doing? I'm Tyler. -Hi, Tyler.
-Very nice to meet you guys. -Nice to meet you.
You're with J.O.?
-Yes, he is. -[Tyler] I am.
-My great-grandfather started the company in 1945. -Oh.
-John was just reading about it. -Yeah.
-[Tyler] Yes, sir.
And he came from Tangier Island.
Yes, he did. He was a waterman.
-Well, so did my ancestors. -[Tyler] Oh, that's awesome.
-You're my brother. -We might be.
We look alike.
Nice, clean face.
I'll finish up here, and then we'll eat some crabs.
-Absolutely. -Sounds like a plan.
-Look, we got... -[Mike] I know.
It looks like I'm ready for a colonoscopy.
This is what they do before you get a colonoscopy.
You're not gonna have a colonoscopy, Mom.
-No, we're not. -I'm almost positive.
-You can whisper all you want, but they'll hear you. -Oh, I'm...
-Oh, I'm mic'd. Oh, crap. -[all laughing]
Good. I'll see you for crabs.
It's "bring your parents to work" day.
We're gonna steam up dozens of crabs.
We're gonna use J.O. No. 2.
Not the Old Bay. Where do we begin?
Welcome back to Baltimore,
home of the delicious Maryland blue crab
and the spice that makes 'em special.
[sniffs] Yeah.
Today, I'm sneezing my head off at J.O. Spice,
a fourth-generation family business
that started in 1945.
Not to be confused with Old Bay,
that other delicious Chesapeake Bay seasoning that gets all the glory.
So far, I've learned what goes into J.O.'s secret spice recipe...
[sneezes]
...and completed an allergen facility clean up.
[sneezing]
-[Tyler] All right, so let's pack a box. -Let's pack a box.
-All you need to do is push that green button. -Yeah.
And it's gonna spit out 50 pounds.
Yep.
Now it's time to box up our spice mix
so we can go eat some crab.
50 flat.
[Mike] Each 50-pound box is sealed up and sent through a metal detector.
Only then can it get the final stamp of approval.
This is the spice most often confused with Old Bay?
Yes, because people assume that
Old Bay is what's on crabs, so...
Most crab houses, if they're not using their own custom blend,
they'll use J.O. No. 2.
It's strictly for the steaming process in crabs.
-Here you are, five generations in. -Yes.
Right. You're proud of your team.
You've been here forever.
And the truth is the majority of people...
...who are enjoying spice on their crabs are enjoying J.O. No. 2.
Yeah.
A blend that's been with our family for five generations now.
[Mike] During the peak summer months,
some customers of J.O. Spice
use up to 20 boxes of the seasoning per week
to spice up the food flying out of their commercial kitchens.
I have guys in here doing this every day. It's their job.
So I'd just, kind of, like to recognize those people, too.
-Um... -Where are they? Get the whole gang together.
Without them, there really is no...
-[Mike] Mike. -There is no J.O.
[Mike] Tyler wants to make sure
that I meet every employee working today.
Why? Because Tyler is a good boss. That's why.
Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you. -You have a lil' something right there.
-You know what, I bet I do. I'm covered in it. -[laughing]
Now it's time to feast on some crab.
Look at that. Oh, those are good ones.
Maryland blue crabs. Callinectes sapidus.
They're beautiful swimmers.
These things are like a nautical Rubix Cube,
getting all that meat out.
You'll see.
But we're gonna steam them up,
we're gonna put the proper spice on 'em and let the games begin.
For Tyler's parents, Don and Ginger,
the third generation of J.O. Spice,
crab is a way of life.
Sprinkle some spice on there, Mike.
[Mike] They're blue crabs, yeah,
but when you steam them, they get red.
So how do you know when it's too much spice,
or is there such a thing?
[Ginger] Never too much spice.
Light 'em up.
-Oh! -[Mike laughs] No!
Ooh. You're gonna enjoy this.
[man] Hot crabs.
As we say in Baltimore, "Oh, no, my God, it's crabs."
That smells like summertime.
Guys, you're in for a treat.
That's all I'm gonna tell you. You're in for a treat.
Pop that out like that.
Crack 'em like that.
And then everything else is basically in play.
That's claw.
[Ginger] I always start by pulling the legs off first.
Mmm. So good.
[Mike] If you're wondering if I came here for free crabs, you're right, I did.
And they were great.
But I also came here for the same reason I went to Clarksville.
People ought to know where their food comes from.
From the shovelhead sturgeon in the muddy Mississippi
to the Maryland blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.
To the delicious eggs inside the former,
to the spicy seasoning outside the latter,
it's good to be connected to our food
and to the people who provide it.
The free crab, that was just a bonus.
[Ginger] Hi, baby.
Say hi.
[Peggy] He's beautiful.
-Thank you so much. Yeah. -Oh, he is.
And the beautiful mother
-is right over there. -[Ginger] I'm so glad you made it back!
You know, I think I smell some J.O. No. 2 right now.
-[Mike sniffing] -[laughs] J.O...
-I think so, too. -[laughs]
-[all laughing] -Oh.
I didn't even get that at first.