The spices in history

Among the various foods we eat, few have had such a fascinating and mysterious history as spices. The word spices derives from the Latin "species," a term that, in addition to its original meaning of "kind," took on the meaning of goods or commodities in the Middle Ages, later becoming synonymous with drugs.

The search for spices led to the discovery and conquest of continents and the foundation and destruction of empires. Spices were once as precious as gold, jealously guarded, and considered a treasure of inestimable value. They were the "goods" par excellence, arriving from the Far East. Obtained from roots, bark, shoots, seeds, and berries, they were used to flavor and preserve foods, for food, medicinal purposes, as perfume, and for a thousand other uses.

The origin of the spice trade

The use of spices predates written history; Archaeologists have discovered that they were already used in ancient civilizations. The Chinese were already using cinnamon in 3000 BC. and the ancient Egyptians used spices for embalming. Egyptian slaves and farmers ate garlic and onion, and aromatic plants were in daily use and were considered necessary and precious, so much so that many types of spices were found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

The Phoenicians, a people of merchants and navigators, played the role of commercial distributors of spices in the Mediterranean until Tyre, their capital, was conquered by Alexander the Great.

The Greeks followed various routes for the transport of goods from the East, and the oldest was certainly the one that from the Indian coast of Malabar went up the Persian Gulf, crossed the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates to Babylon and Antioch.

The Bible also mentions spices several times as goods of great value: Moses had anointed the Ark of the Covenant with cinnamon and cassia, while King Solomon received gifts from the Queen of Sheba, in addition to jewels and gold, also precious spices.

The spice trade in Roman times

The Romans were great consumers of spices, which they used in medicine, perfumery, cosmetics and, of course, in cooking. The most precious spices arrived in Rome from China and India along the ancient caravan routes and in particular the "Silk Road".

Arab merchants accumulated great wealth thanks to the insatiable appetite for exotic and spicy flavors of the voluptuous Romans. There was a great use of spices in Roman cuisine; these were indispensable because they improved the preservation of meat and fish, which was difficult due to the lack of refrigeration and modern preservatives. Coriander, cloves, mustard, anise and cinnamon were spices known and used by the Romans in their refined cuisine, but the king of spices was undoubtedly the black pepper, available in different qualities and in large quantities.

The Spices reached the Roman Empire from numerous sea voyages that took the Romans as far as India in the first century AD. These were very risky journeys, lasting up to two years, before the discovery of monsoon winds. After this discovery, the duration of voyages to India was reduced to less than a year, which shortened the time and facilitated the transport of these precious cargoes.

When in 408 AD. Rome was besieged by the Goths, who knew the value of silk, gold, and pepper, and to avoid the sacking of the city, they demanded huge quantities of these goods from the Romans as tribute. After the fall of Rome and the Western Empire, new trade routes developed, and Constantinople became the center of the spice trade between East and West.

Spices in the Middle Ages

The fall of Rome marked a halt in trade with the East.

The 7th century saw the rise of Islam and the Arab nation, which in the mid-8th century expanded from Spain to the borders of China. For 400 years, few spices reached Europe; In the political chaos of the Middle Ages, Europe had nothing to offer in exchange for the precious goods. The few spices that did arrive were directed to the rich noble palaces or monasteries.

Charlemagne, at the end of his reign, ordered that around seventy aromatic herbs and spices suitable for temperate climates be cultivated in all the imperial possessions. During that same period, the first medicinal gardens were created in the monasteries.there, with beds of cumino, fennel, fennel, rosemary, sage, mint, coriander, nigella and poppy.

Trade with the East resumed again in the 11th century with the Crusades, when crusaders and pilgrims traveled to the Holy Land and began to appreciate the spicy flavor of foods typical of warm climates. Genoa and especially Venice became the main centers for importing new goods and ensured control over trade with the East.

The new routes to India and the fight for control of the Moluccas

The European powers fought with every means to gain a monopoly on the spice trade, and many navigators took to the sea several times to discover new routes leading to the East. In 1418, the Portuguese Henry the Navigator sent several expeditions to discover new routes.

Vasco da Gama, in 1498, after a 10-month voyage, discovered the sea route to the Indies via the Cape of Good Hope, and returned from Calcutta not only with a rich cargo of spices and jewels, but with the important news that the Indian government intended to open trade with Portugal, which in 1506 established the Crown's monopoly on the spice trade. spices. After long conflicts with the Arabs, who controlled trade in the Indian Ocean, the Portuguese settled in Ceylon and Goa in 1510.

Here they exploited the cinnamon forests and enslaved the populations who worked there, imposing their control over a very profitable trade and pushing as far as the Moluccas, then called the "Spice Islands", where cloves, nutmegs and pepper were grown. At the same time, the Spanish, who had important territorial ambitions, In 1492 they financed the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who, sailing towards the West, discovered the New World, but not the spices he was looking for.

In 1512 the Portuguese Antonio D'Abreu reached the Banda archipelago, and Francisco Serao founded a spice trading establishment. The possession of the Moluccas was long disputed between Spain and Portugal, until in 1529 Charles V, with the Treaty of Saragossa, renounced all his rights in favor of the king of Portugal for a financial compensation.

The Portuguese had as their objectives territorial acquisitions, control of trade and the spread of Catholicism, and their missionary zeal made them unpopular with the local populations, mostly Muslim, who welcomed the Dutch conquest with relief.

The East India Company

Between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries The East India Companies were born, national associations of merchants, interested in joining together to better face the costs of travel and pirates, sharing the risks of the enterprises and their benefits and high profits.

The East India Companies were divided into those involved in trade with the East Indies (the territories east of the Cape of Good Hope, East Africa and Asia) and with the West Indies (West Africa and America), created to join the forces of England, Holland, France and Portugal in the commercial conquest of other continents.

The East India Companies allowed Europe to supply itself with silk, spices and products from all over the world, and to dominate the peoples of Asia, Africa and America.

The governments favored their merchants, so as not to depend on other states for supplies of the colonials, and issued Charters that granted the Companies the monopoly of trade with the Colonies, and exemption from the payment of taxes as well as privileges. political functions such as making treaties, administering justice, and waging war.

The English East India Company

The English East India Company was founded in London in 1599, and in 1600 obtained a monopoly on trade with the territories east of the Cape of Good Hope from Queen Elizabeth I. After years of war with the Dutch for control of the Indian Ocean, a partition agreement was reached in 1623; India went to the British,and Ceylon and Indonesia to the Dutch.

In India, the Company purchased pepper, coffee, and sugar, while from China it imported silk and tea, to then resell in Europe and America. The Company's privileges were enormous, and after defeating France for the dominion of India, it dominated and oppressed the local populations until 1784, when William Pitt's "India Act" placed the Company under the control of the British government to limit its autonomy.

Meanwhile, the industrial revolution in England had caused dissent among industrialists, who opposed the import of products from Asia in competition with domestic production. In 1833, the "Peel Act" stripped the company of all commercial privileges, and in 1858 the Company was dissolved, and the Queen took over the direct government of India.

The Dutch East India Company

In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was established and granted a 21-year monopoly on Dutch trade between the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Magellan.

In the first half of the 17th century, the Dutch drove the Portuguese out of Ceylon, the Moluccas, and the Banda Islands, laid siege to Malacca, and established their base at Batava on the island of Java. To control the production of cloves cloves and nutmegs had entire plantations uprooted and allowed their cultivation only on certain islands, hindering any form of trade, to prevent the Chinese and other traders from selling spices to the Portuguese and English. Their profits were enormous.

Their success was such that it led to a saturation of the European market and a devaluation of the spice, so much so that in Amsterdam the stocks accumulated over 10 years were burned to maintain high prices on the European market. The path to a spice monopoly had proved very costly for the Dutch, and in 1799 the Dutch East India Company went bankrupt soon after the release of the first batch of French cloves, grown from smuggled seeds and harvested in Mauritius in 1776.

Spices in the Modern Era

New plantations were started in other French tropical colonies: the Seychelles, Reunion, Cayenne, and Zanzibar. At the beginning of the 19th century, with no country having an exclusive monopoly on spices, prices began to fall, and spices became less and less rare and affordable for many. Today, spices come from many different countries, and, after centuries of struggle for control of their trade, they are in common use and easily available. However, they remain ingredients that are never banal, and are arousing ever-growing interest. The vitality and magic of these ancient aromas has been preserved over time, making even the simplest recipe special and refined.

At ROMA FINE FOODS you will find over 500 varieties of spices, aromatic herbs, and ingredients waiting to be discovered.