Author Topic: A Short History of Spices, Seasonings, And Other Flavorings  (Read 621 times)

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A Short History of Spices, Seasonings, And Other Flavorings
« on: September 23, 2014, 01:19:57 PM »
In the past, every pinch of salt, dash of pepper, or spoonful of sugar required tremendous effort to obtain. Salt was essential in preserving raw meat and other foodstuffs over long voyages, so it was much more valuable than it is today. Salt caravans crisscrossed the harsh Sahara Desert, finding their way by reading the stars, wind patterns, and sand dune formations. West Africa, one of the poorest regions in the world today, was one of the richest from A.D. 800–1500 due to the abundance of salt deposits in the area.

The salt trade goes back even further. The town of Solnitsata in modern-day Bulgaria, the earliest known town in Europe, was a salt production facility that the entire Balkans envied. It is believed to have flourished from 4700–4200 B.C. on the strength of its salt imports.

As civilizations rose and fell, salt gained a lasting prominence in the human diet. It held such importance that we derived the word “salary” from “salarium,” which was the money that Roman soldiers were given to purchase salt.

Sugar, meanwhile, probably originated from New Guinea 10,000 years ago, where the cane was chewed like a licorice stick. Knowledge of this sweetener made its way to the Asian mainland, where Indians were processing it into powder by A.D. 500. The ancient Greeks mentioned a “kind of honey, like salt” and believed sugar was a medicine. Later on, Crusaders came back to their villages and castles in Europe, telling tales of the magnificent “sweet salt.”

European voyages to the Americas and Asia were spurred significantly by the promise of vast riches and a dash of spices, particularly black pepper, which only the rich could afford. Black peppercorn was also used as part of the mummification ritual of Egyptian pharaohs, and Ramses II was known to have had peppercorn stuffed in his nose. Pliny once complained that Rome spent too much on pepper, and indeed, 50 million sesterces were spent annually to import the goods from India. Pepper was such a hot commodity that it became known as “black gold” and functioned as an exchangeable currency. This was exploited by Alaric the Visigoth and Attila the Hun when they demanded over one ton of the spice in exchange for peace. -- http://listverse.com/

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