Spicy food-lovers can be proud –
the history of
spices is dated to the early 7000 BC, when Indians of the New World
used the wild pungent “chiltecpin”, known today as
pepper.
Between 5200-3400 BC the black pepper was domesticated by nomadic
tribes. The Incas
of South America were growing chili pepper and treated it like the
holy plant. Later, around 500 AD the Mayas were cultivating many
different sorts of chile which was a customary spicy
food flavor.
About 1200 AD the Aztec, who were the last agricultural tribe of what
is now modern-day Mexico City, are growing and selling a great
variety of chiles, which name referred to both green and red chili
pepper.
According to the archaeological finds,
people of
today's Syria seasoned their extra
spicy food with cloves around 1700 BC.
Clove is also mentioned in Ramayana – the Indian epic of 200
BC.
Due to the spicy food popularity, spice trade has always been
very
profitable business. In the Middle Ages spices, including nutmeg,
ginger, cloves, black pepper and cinnamon, being imported from Africa
and
Asia, were very expensive spicy food flavor. During the Late Middle
Ages the Republic of Venice had the trade monopoly on spice,
exporting about 2 000 tonnes of spices every year. Pepper, remaining
the most common spice, was used not only in spicy food cooking
but
also as a stimulant and insect repellent. Among the more exclusive
spicy food seasonings were galangal, saffron and grains of paradise.
However the prices demanded by Venice seemed too high to Portugal
and Spain, and in 1499 the Portuguese Crown sponsored the expedition
of Vasco Da Gama to India. Besides that many new spices came to
Europe after the discovery of the New World by Columbus and the Maluku
Islands, also called “Spice Islands”, by
Magellan.
Nowadays the world
production of spices
totals 1
868 700 tonnes. The undisputed leader of spice trade is India
(86%), then China and Bangladesh follow (4% and 3%). As the popularity
of spicy food is growing constantly, these figures will be
increasing.
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