Today, when we can buy almost any spice at our local supermarket, it is hard to imagine how rare and valuable spices once were. Spices were the goal of some of the greatest explorations in human history, from Marco Polo to Christopher Columbus. In the days before refrigeration, spices and herbs were used as a way to mask the often unpleasant taste and odour of food beginning to spoil, as well as for their exotic flavours. In those days, a handful of cardamom could be worth as much as a man's yearly wages.
Spices were first introduced to Europe by Arab traders, who kept their sources of supply in eastern Asia a secret.
While the Chinese had steady access to the spice lands via the Silk Road and by sea, it took Portuguese navigators over a half-century to creep around Africa and reach India. It was his belief that a more direct route lay across the Atlantic that led Christopher Columbus to set out across the Atlantic in 1492. Even much of the future Canada was "discovered" by explorers looking for the spice lands (in this they were sorely disappointed!).
Exotic Spices
Black pepper, which seems to us as common as salt, was so precious in ancient times that it was used to pay taxes, ransom, dowries and rent. Both black and white pepper are obtained from the small dried berry of the vine Piper nigrum. Pepper is now used to add flavour to food in almost every nation in the world. The principal sources for black pepper were India, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Cinnamon was one of the first known spices. The Romans considered cinnamon sacred and burned it at funerals. Because it was one of the most sought-after spices in the 15th century, some say that cinnamon led indirectly to the discovery of America. Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of various evergreen trees belonging to the genus Cinnamomum. At harvest, the bark is stripped off and put in the sun, where it curls into its familiar form.
Cloves are believed to be native to the Molucca Islands of Indonesia and today Indonesia is still the largest producer. Cloves are the dried, unopened, nail-shaped flower buds of the evergreen Syzygium aromaticum. They have a strong flavour and aroma and are familiar today as ingredients in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. The first references to cloves are found in Chinese literature in the Han period under the name "chicken-tongue spice." From the 8th century on, cloves became one of the major spices in European commerce. Cloves were extremely costly and wars were fought to secure exclusive rights to the profitable clove business.
Cardamom is the dried, unripened fruit of the perennial Elettaria cardamomum. The tiny, brown seeds are slightly pungent to the taste. It is today an essential ingredient in North African, Arab, Chinese and Indian cooking. Cardamom originally came from India and Sri Lanka.
Learn more: Spices: A Global Commodity
A Taste of Adventure