The spice trade involved historical civilizations in Asia, Northeast Africa and Europe. Spices such as cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove and turmeric were known and used in the Eastern World. These spices found their way into the Near East before the beginning of the Christian era, with fantastic tales hiding their true sources.
Spices had been imported from the East into Europe since antiquity, and Europeans had developed a definite liking for them. Part of the attraction was the flavour they gave dishes, although the long-held view they were primarily used to disguise the taste of bad meat is incorrect. Another attraction was their very rarity, making them a fashionable addition to any table and a real status symbol for the wealthy. Spices were used to add flavour not only to sauces but also wines; they were even crystallised and eaten on their own as sweets.
But the world’s demand for spices grew throughout the Roman era and into the medieval period, defining economies from India to Europe. This demand gave rise to some of the first truly international trade routes and shaped the structure of the world economy in a way that can still be felt today. Those who controlled the spices could divert the flow of wealth around the world.
The secret of the origins of spices such as cinnamon could only be kept for so long. In 1498, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama made the first sea voyage from Europe to India, via the southernmost tip of Africa. The mission was driven by a desire to find a direct route to the places where spices were plentiful and cheap, cutting out the middlemen. His arrival on India’s Malabar Coast, the heart of the spice trade, marked the start of direct trading between Europe and South East Asia.
The hunger for spices went well beyond their aromatic flavour. While spices had been consumed in Asia for most likely as long as there had been people living there, in Europe they became a new symbol of high social status.
“The consequences of these trivial products – trivial in that you don't need them for nutrition – are cataclysmic,” says Paul Freedman, a historian at Yale University. “They were the first goods to have such dramatic and unanticipated consequences.”
Those consequences included the colonisation of the New World, after Christopher Columbus took a wrong turn in search of spices, heading westward instead of eastward to reach the Americas.
India’s history as a spice-producing nation is largely down to its climate, which is varied and ideal for growing a range of different spice crops. For example, turmeric, one increasingly valuable spice, grows well in India’s tropical, high-rainfall regions, whereas spices such as cumin flourish in cooler and drier subtropical areas.
Many spice farms in India are historically small and family-run. But fluctuations in the value of spices on the open market can make farmers’ incomes more precarious.
“There’s a real interest around healthy eating and healthy living in the west,” says Touboulic. “Consumption of spices is rising in countries like the UK because of the associated health benefits.”
Turmeric is a prime example. Some studies claim a vast array of health benefits of turmeric, or one of its components, curcumin. Although other researchers have urged caution on the hype, the claims have fuelled a boom in interest in turmeric within the wellness industry.
Cited sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_trade (1)
The Spice Trade & the Age of Exploration - World History Encyclopaedia (2)
https://thejourneytotheeast.com/spices-route-europe-asia/ (3)
How spices changed the ancient world - Mayil (mayilspices.com) (4)
https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/made-on-earth/the-flavours-that-shaped-the-world/ (5)