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| ALL ABOUT SPICES |
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 A spice adds to the taste and
hence is an enhancer. Always
used in insignificant
quantities, it actually happens
to be dried seed, fruit, root,
bark, leaf. Once added, it
becomes a harbinger of different
flavors - that can be fairly be
customized by adding different
quantities. In the west, the
spices were crucial before
refrigeration was invented- the
spices preserved food by killing
or preventing the growth of
harmful bacteria.
Spices have always been an
intrinsic part of the Eastern
life. Used as medicines,
religious rituals, cosmetics,
and perfumery or even as
vegetable, they have even
flavored literature and the
arts. Kalidas has extensively
used spices as metaphors. These
are also extensively used for
multiple purposes- apart from
being a flavoring agent for
example, turmeric is also used
as a preservative; and garlic as
a vegetable for diverse
preparations. Sometimes, they
take on different terms.
In the kitchen however, spices
are renowned as the king -
flavoring, modifying and
enhancing the tastes of
everything they touch. Easily
distinguishable from herbs,
which are leafy, spices are
mainly used for flavoring -the
famous Indian curry that has
taken the west by storm is
actually cooked up by the
spices. Often confused with
herbs, that may be used fresh;
spices are dried and often
ground or grated into a powder.
They can be used both in powder
or whole form.
Early history
 Man's interest in these wondrous
substances began early-the
earliest evidence points to
their usage even in 50,000 B.C.
The settling of man after being
hunters, stirred the culinary
interests. As more interesting
recipes developed, and different
tastes acquired, trading in
spices became imperative. The
spice trade initially centered
around cinnamon, Indonesian
cinnamon and pepper and
developed from about around 2000
BC in the the Middle East.
An Assyrian myth declares that
the gods drank sesame wine the
night before they created the
earth. Sesame is of course a
spice and its influence was
widespread.
Archaeologists have found a
clove dating to 1700 BC that was
burnt onto the floor of a burned
down kitchen in the Mesopotamian
site of Terqa- now modern-day
Syria. The clove that
indigenously grew in the
Indonesian island of Ternate in
the Maluku Islands came to the
Middle East even earlier.
References to spices abound in
the ancient
literature-reflecting the
immense importance entire
civilizations placed on spices.
In Genesis, Joseph's older
brothers sold him to a passing
caravan of spice merchants
traveling from Gilead to Egypt.
The male protagonist compares
his beloved to many forms of
spices in the biblical poem Song
of Solomon. The Queen of Sheba
made a tribute to King Solomon
in the form of spices, gold, and
precious stones, in the book of
Kings.
Concrete evidence of the use of
spices emerges in the art work
and writings of early
civilizations. Workers eating
garlic and onions to gain
strength are depicted in the
Hieroglyphs in the Great
Pyramid. The first Olympians in
Greece wore wreaths of bay and
parsley to celebrate victory in
1453 BC. Hippocrates, the great
Greek physician prescribed from
a list of more than 400
medicines made with spices and
herbs- about half of these are
still in use today.
The nutmeg, indigenous to the
Banda Islands in the Moluccas
acquired a Sanskrit name,
reflecting its antiquity as well
as its widespread usage in South
East Asia. The spice was
probably introduced to Europe in
the 6th century BC. Cloves find
prominent mention in the ancient
Indian epic of Ramayana. Pliny
the Elder in Romans spoke of its
virtues in his writings early in
the 1st century AD.
 The South East Asia emerged as a
hub f spice trade as Indonesian
merchants traveled to China,
India, the Middle East and the
east coast of Africa laden with
spices. Arab merchants
controlled the routes through
the Middle East and India until
Roman times with the discovery
of new sea routes. The city of
Alexandria in Egypt became the
main trading centre for spices
because of its port. Arabs were
favored to trade in spices and
herbs among early civilizations
due t their ideal location and
he knowledge of both the east
and the west.
The spice trade route of “the
Golden Road of Samarqand"
quickly developed, winding
through the tortuous deserts of
southern Asia and the Middle
East between kingdoms. The Arabs
were masters of this route,
trading locally produced goods,
products from Africa with spices
from the Far East to mint
fortunes. Caravans of donkeys
and later thousands of camels
followed the route for
generations - fuelled by an ever
greater demand for spices. Years
later, when flowers of Buddhism
wanted to spread their message,
they took the Spice Route.
The Roman dominance began after
they started sailing from Egypt
to India to trade spices. The
arduous two-year voyage across
the Indian Ocean was shortened
once they observed the seasonal
monsoons and began taking
advantage of it. Now onwards
getting pepper, cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, and ginger from
the East took only about a year.
Nevertheless, spices were a
highly prized and available only
to the upper class, who valued
them like gold. In 65 AD, at the
funeral for Nero's wife, a
year's supply of cinnamon was
burned as a mark of respect.
After overrunning Rome in 410,
the Goth’s leader, Alaric I,
demanded 30,000 pounds of
peppercorns the decline and the
fall of the Roman Empire also
marked a downturn in Spice use
and trading in Europe.
The middle Ages were devoted to
finding newer and ever larger
sources of spices as the
European culture developed.
After vanquishing the Arabs, the
Europeans dealt directly with
China, India, and the Indonesian
islands, including the Moluccas
(or Spice Islands) for spices,
and obtained astronomical
returns. The lure of the lucre
and adventure impelled the
explorers to seek new routes in
their quest for exclusive trade.
European prosperity rose and
fell on the quantum of spice
trade. Marco Polo's exploration
of Asia established Venice as
the most important trade port
ensuring the city-state’s
prosperity till 1498. The
Portuguese and Spanish soon got
into the fray and soon enough
the Portuguese explorer Vasco De
Gamma reached India. The
constant flow of riches from
pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and
jewels, laid the foundation for
the Portuguese empire.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus
was actually looking for a
direct western route to the
Spice Islands thus opening up
the New World that still
dominates.
Spices continued to shape
history ever after.
Wars for control of the spice
trade erupted as the popularity
of spices rose with the growth
in the middle classes during the
middle ages. Wars broke out
between Spain, Portugal,
England, and Holland over the
Indonesian Spice Islands and
continued for about 200 years.
 Portuguese traders reached first
by sailing south around Africa
into the Indian Ocean. Their
Spanish king sent expedition
after expedition to secure a
more profitable spice route.
Meanwhile, Holland had prospered
and gained control of shipping
and trading in northern Europe.
As their influence expanded,
they entered the spice trade,
and overthrew the Portuguese
control. By undertaking numerous
expeditions to the East Indies
and setting up new deals with
local rulers they acquired the
unchallenged rights to the Asian
spice trade. Holland conquered
the city of Malacca in 1641,
soon adding the cinnamon trade
in Ceylon, the pepper ports
along the Malabar Coast and
finally the Indonesian Islands
.They even "fixed" the spice
market- when prices fell, they
kept the profits high by burning
cinnamon and clove trees. Years
later, France helped to break
the Dutch hold on the market by
stealing enough cloves,
cinnamon, and un-limed nutmeg
from the Dutch to begin
plantings on French-controlled
islands in the Indian Ocean.
The British Raj was also built
on Spices. In 1600 Elizabeth I
chartered the British East India
Company and began the saga of
British dominance for the next
two centuries. In 1780, English
destroyed the Dutch East India
Company and took over the spice
trade.
The American dominance began
after they entered the spice
race in the late 17th century.
With typical American
inventiveness and
entrepreneurial spirit, Elcho
Yale, a former clerk of the
British East India Company began
his own spice business, made a
fortune that later would found
the Yale University. In 1797,
Captain Jonathan Carnes brought
back enormous profits of spice
trade into Salem, Massachusetts
by trading traded directly with
Asian natives. Salem,
Massachusetts, became the center
of spice trade in North America.
With growing influence, the
Americans also made many new
innovations. Texan settlers
developed chili powder in 1835
as a simpler way to make Mexican
dishes. Techniques for
dehydrating onions and garlic
were developed in California.
Eugene Durkee laid down the
first standards for spice purity
under the U.S. Pure Food and
Drug Act in USA
Asia still grows most of the
spices but the balance of spice
power shifts as more spices are
being planted in the Western
Hemisphere along with a wide
variety of herbs and aromatic
seeds.
From the dawn of history control
of the spice trade has ensured
world dominance. The truism
still prevails: the United
States is now the world's major
spice buyer, followed by
Germany, Japan, and France. |
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