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2. The history of spices

The story of how spices became part of our everyday diet involves a journey that spans continents and millennia

Many tales of romance and mythology are associated with spices, but the history of spices is essentially a history of trade – of fortunes and empires made and lost, of bloodshed, piracy and greed. The most important spice plants are native to tropical Asia and have been traded there for millennia. Cassia is mentioned in Pen Ts’ao Ching, a herbal medicine book written around 2700 BCE. Nutmeg and cloves were traded to China before 300 BCE, when officers of state put cloves in their mouths to sweeten their breath when addressing the emperor.

“ In India, spices such as pepper, turmeric, cardamom and ginger have been used for thousands of years in medicine and cooking ”

Cuneiform records include spices and herbs used in the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, and a scroll from the reign of King Ashurbanipal of Assyria (668-633 BCE) records several aromatic plants, including cardamom, coriander, cumin, myrrh, saffron and turmeric. In India, spices such as pepper, turmeric, cardamom and ginger have been used for thousands of years in medicine and cooking. The Egyptians used spices for embalming, body ointments and to fumigate their homes, while the Ebers Papyrus (circa 1550 BCE) mentions aromatics including cardamom, cassia, coriander and saffron.

Trade routes

The trade routes between India, Indonesia and China were established long before any trade westwards. In affluent Asian societies, spices were used regularly in medicine and cooking, and pepper and other spices left India’s Malabar coast for China in exchange for porcelain and silk.

Indian traders took spices and textiles to the Persian Gulf to sell to Arab traders, who remained the middlemen in the European trade with Asia and sub-Saharan Africa for centuries. To preserve their monopoly they spread alarming tales to discourage customers from attempting to find the sources of their prized merchandise.

Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, the city of Alexandria soon became a great trading centre between East and West. Several overland trade routes were established to bring spices and other oriental luxuries to the West. The earliest sea route was from the Malabar coast of India to the Persian Gulf, round the coast of Arabia and up the Red Sea.

The Romans started sailing to India from Egypt in the first century CE. It was a long voyage, until Hippalus, a Greek sailor, discovered the monsoon winds. Ships sailed out with the southwest monsoon winds from April to October and returned with the northeast monsoons from October to April.

These fast voyages enabled Rome to break the Arab stranglehold. They used spices extravagantly in cooking, perfume, cosmetics and medicine. In return, a steady flow of gold went east to pay for the silks, precious stones and spices.

Rome to the Middle Ages

Pepper, ginger and turmeric were the most commonly used spices in Rome. Apicius’ recipes in De Re Coquinaria included spices to preserve food, enhance its flavour and aid digestion, and Roman armies took spices with them as they conquered Europe. When the Goths besieged Rome in 408 CE, they knew well the value of spices and other luxuries. After the fall of Rome, some spices reached Europe, but for 400 years there was little contact between Muslim Arabs and Christian Europe.

While Europe lapsed into the Dark Ages, the Abbasid dynasty established a thriving civilisation in Baghdad, with physicians and pharmacologists creating techniques to distil essential oils from plants and extract scents from flowers and herbs. Their food was flavoured with rosewater, saffron, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, mace and ginger.

European trade resumed in the 11th century with the crusades. During this time, spices and other oriental goods became more widely available beyond the palaces of state and church.

“ In 1180, Henry II established the Pepperers’ Guild in London, and peppercorns were used to pay taxes and rent ”

In 1180, Henry II established the Pepperers’ Guild in London, the city’s first mercantile guild. Peppercorns were used to pay taxes and rent, and kings and princes throughout Europe levied taxes on spices. However, accounts from monasteries and noble households show the lavish use of spices continued.

The crusaders’ supplies came from Venice and Genoa, the main seafarers of the Mediterranean. Venice defeated Genoa in 1380 and had an unprecedented trade boom for the next 100 years, supplying Europe with spices, silks and jewels and Asia with saffron, wool, gold and silver.

A Chinese spice cabinet

New routes

The Portuguese and the Spaniards were determined to find other routes to the East to break the Venetian monopoly. Vasco da Gama reached Calicut via the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, and returned with spices and precious stones. The trade passed to Lisbon, and for the next century the Portuguese supplied spices to Europe at even higher prices than those of the Venetians. They settled in Asian trading towns and on the Spice Islands. When the last ship of Magellan’s fleet arrived in the Moluccas in 1522, after sailing westwards round the globe under the flag of Spain, the two countries were rivals in the islands until they were united under the Spanish crown in 1580.

Meanwhile, the Dutch, who had been trading spices from Lisbon into northern Europe, decided to organise their own journey to the Indies. A group of Amsterdam merchants financed an expedition in 1595, which returned with supplies of pepper, nutmeg and mace. In 1602, the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company) was formed.

The Dutch proved a superior naval force to the Portuguese, and were even more ruthless in their treatment of the native population and in protecting their monopoly. The spice crops outstripped demand, and huge quantities of spices were burned in Amsterdam to maintain prices in Europe. The cost was immense, and by the 18th century the trade unprofitable.

The English came late to the Asian trade. In 1609, James I granted the East India Company the monopoly. However, monopolies were about to end.

In 1770, the aptly named Pierre Poivre, a French botanist, smuggled clove and nutmeg trees to Isle de France (Mauritius). More plantings were made in tropical colonies, including the West Indies, and by the 19th century prices had fallen.

Columbus made landfall on Hispaniola six years before Vasco da Gama reached the East. He made four voyages west, searching for the fabled riches of the East. Instead, he returned with tobacco, kidney beans, capsicums and allspice. Cortés conquered

Mexico in 1519 and returned to Spain with many other foods, including vanilla, and gold and silver.

“ Migration has also played a significant role in the spread of spices over the years ”

Migration

Another factor that has played a significant role in the spread of spices over the years is migration. Immigrant communities, whether established by colonial force or economic plight, took their traditional ingredients and cooking methods and combined them with local produce.

These are the origins of Cape Malay and Cape Indian dishes, as well as Cajun cooking, the use of Colombo powder in the French West Indies, the ‘rijsttafel’ of Holland, Japanese dishes in Peru and, of course, the curries of the UK.