A Pinch of Spice in History

The spice cabinet is a study in geography, and exploring it is quite the world tour: pepper, dill, cloves, sage, chili peppers, cinnamon, marjoram, and saffron hail from every corner of the globe. An astonishing array of flavors are available to the modern chef and gourmet - and each spice has its own history.

Pepper is probably the most famous of spices. Europeans went to great lengths to import this valuable commodity native to southwest India. In renaissance Europe, whole economies hinged on the trade of pepper. Venice, chiefly, claimed European dominance in these trade routes - garnering exculsive rights in exchange for aid given to the Crusaders.

So powerful (and profitable) was this dominance, other nations sent the likes of Vasco de Gama, Columbus, and Magellan to seek alternate routes to the lucrative Eastern sources of pepper and other exotic spices. Even this expansion in pepper trade did not sate European demand: at one point, a pound of pepper was all Canada owed England in tax for a year.

Today, pepper is used more than any other spice, but is no longer the economic power it once was. In the spice trade, that honor goes to saffron - that golden spice grown in Spain and the Near East. Priced at $400 per pound, it takes over 4,000 hand-plucked saffron flowers to yield a single ounce.

If you have any experiences you'd like to share, write us at info@dinnerdirect.com.

View other featured Articles