I'm a self-professed food junkie. Not only do I love eating good food, I love watching other people make delicious food and then eat it. On those lazy weekend mornings I love to flip on the TV and watch Giada, The Neelys, or Tyler. The Food Network is an amazing thing, and people like Alton Brown make it that much better.
His show, Good Eats, is a fun way to not only learn about cooking food, but also just learn about that food's history, best cooking methods, etc. He's doing his third version of Feasting on Asphalt, only this time he is sailing through the Caribbean and Feasting on Waves.
The show is great, as it is mostly just an impromptu look at island food and culture. At the end of one of the segments on the last episode, it had this little note at the bottom that made my brain wheels start turning:
"The geopolitical shape of our planet is greatly determined by mankind's pursuit of spices."
I've never really thought about spices before. I mean, they come in bottles, I buy them, and I use them to spice up my food. I slightly remember learning about the Spice Trade in school but haven't given it a second thought since then -- until now.
This phrase made me consult Wikipedia for more information about spices and why they were so important in shaping the world as it is today.
A Historical Overview
"Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes. The Roman-Indian routes were dependent upon techniques developed by the maritime trading power, Kingdom of Axum (ca 400s BC–AD 1000s) which had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century. When they encountered Rome (circa 30 BCE– 10 CE) they shared knowledge of riding the Monsoons of the route on to Rome, keeping a cordial relationship with one another until the mid-seventh century, when the rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and sundered the European trade community from Axum and India. Arab traders eventually took over conveying goods via the Levant and Venetian merchants to Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Turks."
The Middle Ages
"Spices were among the most luxurious products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. They were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them extremely expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice had the monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, and along it with the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region phenomenally rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people.
"A popular modern-day misconception is that medieval cooks used liberal amounts of spices, particularly black pepper, merely to disguise the taste of spoiled meat. However, a medieval feast was as much a culinary event as it was a display of the host's vast resources and generosity, and as most nobles had a wide selection of fresh or preserved meats, fish or seafood to choose from, the use of ruinously expensive spices on cheap, rotting meat would have made little sense."
The New World
"In 1453, the Ottomans took Constantinople and so the Byzantine Empire was no more. Now in control of the sole spice trade route that existed at the time, the Ottoman Empire was in a favorable position to charge hefty taxes on merchandise bound for the west. The Western Europeans, not wanting to be dependent on a non-Christian power for the lucrative commerce with the east, set about to find an alternate sea route around Africa."
***
Throughout history, spices were just as important as gold, gems, and other precious commodities. I never realized this before. Those in control of the spice trade routes would have direct power over many other countries and civilizations. I see now why the continents outside of Europe and Asia were finally discovered -- the spices became too damn expensive and they had to get creative.
Of course, the spice trade is really why Columbus began sailing in the first place. He was trying to find a better way to obtain spices from India. Hell, he thought he reached India. Now I see why the show made this statement: as empires took control of spice trade routes, other civilizations were forced to find their own way to avoid the high taxes and prices imposed by those empires. With this exploration came the discovery of North America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America by different explorers. With these discoveries came the discovery of new routes to India, but also the discovery of new spices in general.
It's amazing to think that Columbus only stumbled upon North America because Spain was tired of paying high prices for spices.
India is still the dominator of spice production. The country produces 1.6 million tonnes of spices, which is 86% of all production in the world. Pretty impressive. No wonder Indian food has one the most complex flavor profiles of all cuisines in the world.
I love spices. Without them, life for me would be oh-so-bland. And I guess that is why spices were so important to civilizations -- because feasting was just as important. Without spices, feasts would just not be the same. I know I would not want to live life without my spice bottles, and I know I have a lot of work to do to learn about all of the flavorful spices available.
Now that I've actually took the time to think about the politics and economics of the spice trade,
I definitely will look at those bottles in my kitchen differently. Before I looked into this, spices were there to make food taste better. Now, spices are one of the most important factors in shaping the world as we know it. It's almost ridiculous to think that a spice, whether it's pepper, nutmeg, or cinnamon, could shape the world's fate. How crazy is that?
"Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes. The Roman-Indian routes were dependent upon techniques developed by the maritime trading power, Kingdom of Axum (ca 400s BC–AD 1000s) which had pioneered the Red Sea route before the 1st century. When they encountered Rome (circa 30 BCE– 10 CE) they shared knowledge of riding the Monsoons of the route on to Rome, keeping a cordial relationship with one another until the mid-seventh century, when the rise of Islam closed off the overland caravan routes through Egypt and the Suez, and sundered the European trade community from Axum and India. Arab traders eventually took over conveying goods via the Levant and Venetian merchants to Europe until the rise of the Ottoman Turks."
The Middle Ages
"Spices were among the most luxurious products available in Europe in the Middle Ages, the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. They were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them extremely expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice had the monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, and along it with the neighboring Italian city-states. The trade made the region phenomenally rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of the other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people.
"A popular modern-day misconception is that medieval cooks used liberal amounts of spices, particularly black pepper, merely to disguise the taste of spoiled meat. However, a medieval feast was as much a culinary event as it was a display of the host's vast resources and generosity, and as most nobles had a wide selection of fresh or preserved meats, fish or seafood to choose from, the use of ruinously expensive spices on cheap, rotting meat would have made little sense."
The New World
"In 1453, the Ottomans took Constantinople and so the Byzantine Empire was no more. Now in control of the sole spice trade route that existed at the time, the Ottoman Empire was in a favorable position to charge hefty taxes on merchandise bound for the west. The Western Europeans, not wanting to be dependent on a non-Christian power for the lucrative commerce with the east, set about to find an alternate sea route around Africa."
***
Throughout history, spices were just as important as gold, gems, and other precious commodities. I never realized this before. Those in control of the spice trade routes would have direct power over many other countries and civilizations. I see now why the continents outside of Europe and Asia were finally discovered -- the spices became too damn expensive and they had to get creative.
Of course, the spice trade is really why Columbus began sailing in the first place. He was trying to find a better way to obtain spices from India. Hell, he thought he reached India. Now I see why the show made this statement: as empires took control of spice trade routes, other civilizations were forced to find their own way to avoid the high taxes and prices imposed by those empires. With this exploration came the discovery of North America, the Caribbean Islands, and South America by different explorers. With these discoveries came the discovery of new routes to India, but also the discovery of new spices in general.
It's amazing to think that Columbus only stumbled upon North America because Spain was tired of paying high prices for spices.
India is still the dominator of spice production. The country produces 1.6 million tonnes of spices, which is 86% of all production in the world. Pretty impressive. No wonder Indian food has one the most complex flavor profiles of all cuisines in the world.
I love spices. Without them, life for me would be oh-so-bland. And I guess that is why spices were so important to civilizations -- because feasting was just as important. Without spices, feasts would just not be the same. I know I would not want to live life without my spice bottles, and I know I have a lot of work to do to learn about all of the flavorful spices available.
Now that I've actually took the time to think about the politics and economics of the spice trade,
I definitely will look at those bottles in my kitchen differently. Before I looked into this, spices were there to make food taste better. Now, spices are one of the most important factors in shaping the world as we know it. It's almost ridiculous to think that a spice, whether it's pepper, nutmeg, or cinnamon, could shape the world's fate. How crazy is that?
I consulted this Wikipedia page and this Wikipedia page.
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