Spice

Definition

Although defining spice is difficult, varying definitions cover several common aspects. One such aspect is the biological source of spices: the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) identifies the source as vegetables, while Redgrove (1933) is more specific as to the part of the plant, specifically the root, rhizome, flower, fruit, seed and bark when they are dried, in contrast with herbaceous parts which constitute herbs. The Oxford Companion to Food challenges spices as sourced from plants being a hard rule, pointing to ambergris being often identified as a spice despite its animal origin.

Another aspect is the geographical source: The OED specifies spices are sourced from the tropics, while The Oxford Companion to Food gives the example of caraway seeds as demonstrating that spices can come from temperate climes. The notion that spices have a tropical origin is historic: originally "spice" was understood as a type of merchandise from the Orient. As Europeans encountered the Americas, beginning the Columbian exchange, the meaning expanded to capture new aromatics, and the meaning later shifted again to refer to culinary use. This historic development has led to some ingredients indigenous to European cooking such as garlic and horseradish not being considered spices despite sharing many attributes.

History

Early history

Archeological study of early spice use is difficult, as spices were used in small quantities, leaving few preserved remains.

The spice trade developed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Middle East by 2000 BCE with cinnamon and black pepper, and in East Asia with herbs and pepper. The Egyptians used herbs for cuisine and mummification. Their demand for exotic spices and herbs helped stimulate world trade.

Cloves were used in Mesopotamia by 1700 BCE. The earliest written records of spices come from ancient Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian cultures. The Ebers Papyrus from early Egypt dating from 1550 BCE describes some eight hundred different herbal medicinal remedies and numerous medicinal procedures.

By 1000 BCE, medical systems based on herbs could be found in China, Korea, and India. Early uses were associated with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and preservation.

Indonesian merchants traveled around China, India, the Middle East, and the east coast of Africa. Arab merchants facilitated the routes through the Middle East and India. This resulted in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria being the main trading center for spices. The most important discovery prior to the European spice trade was the monsoon winds (40 CE). Sailing from Eastern spice cultivators to Western European consumers gradually replaced the land-locked spice routes once facilitated by the Middle East Arab caravans.

Spices were prominent enough in the ancient world that they are mentioned in the Old Testament. In Genesis, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to spice merchants. In Exodus, manna is described as being similar to coriander in appearance. In the Song of Solomon, the male narrator compares his beloved to many saffron, cinnamon, and other spices.

Historians believe that nutmeg, which originates from the Banda Islands in Southeast Asia, was introduced to Europe in the 6th century BCE. The Romans had cloves in the 1st century CE, as Pliny the Elder wrote about them.

Middle Ages

Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products available in Europe in the Middle Ages,[5] the most common being black pepper, cinnamon (and the cheaper alternative cassia), cumin, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Given medieval medicine's main theory of humorism, spices and herbs were indispensable to balance "humors" in food,[6] on a daily basis for good health at a time of recurrent pandemics. In addition to being desired by those using medieval medicine, the European elite also craved spices in the Middle Ages, believing spices to be from and a connection to "paradise". An example of the European aristocracy's demand for spice comes from the King of Aragon, who invested substantial resources into importing spices to Spain in the 12th century. He was specifically looking for spices to put in wine and was not alone among European monarchs at the time to have such a desire for spice.

Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which made them expensive. From the 8th until the 15th century, the Republic of Venice held a monopoly on spice trade with the Middle East, using this position to dominate the neighboring Italian maritime republics and city-states. The trade made the region rich. It has been estimated that around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of other common spices were imported into Western Europe each year during the Late Middle Ages. The value of these goods was the equivalent of a yearly supply of grain for 1.5 million people. The most exclusive was saffron, used as much for its vivid yellow-red color as for its flavor. Spices that have now fallen into obscurity in European cuisine include grains of paradise, a relative of cardamom which mostly replaced pepper in late medieval north French cooking, along with long pepper, mace, spikenard, galangal, and cubeb.

Early modern period

Voyagers from Spain and Portugal were interested in seeking new routes to trade in spices and other valuable products from Asia. The control of trade routes and the spice-producing regions were the main reasons that Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed to India in 1499.[8] When da Gama discovered the pepper market in India, he was able to secure peppers for a much lower cost than demanded by Venice. At around the same time, Christopher Columbus returned from the New World. He described to investors the new spices available there.

Another source of competition in the spice trade during the 15th and 16th centuries was the Ragusans from the maritime republic of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. The military prowess of Afonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515) allowed the Portuguese to take control of the sea routes to India. In 1506, he took the island of Socotra in the mouth of the Red Sea and, in 1507, Ormuz in the Persian Gulf. Since becoming the viceroy of the Indies, he took Goa in India in 1510, and Malacca on the Malay Peninsula in 1511. The Portuguese could now trade directly with Siam, China, and the Maluku Islands.

With the discovery of the New World came new spices, including allspice, chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate. This development kept the spice trade, with the Americas as a latecomer with their new seasonings, profitable well into the 19th century.

Function

Spices are primarily used as food flavoring or to create variety. They are also used to perfume cosmetics and incense. At various periods, many spices were used in herbal medicine. Finally, since they can be expensive, rare and exotic commodities, their conspicuous consumption has often been a symbol of wealth and social class.

Preservative claim

It is often claimed that spices were used either as food preservatives or to mask the taste of spoiled meat, especially in the European Middle Ages. This is false. In fact, spices are rather ineffective as preservatives as compared to salting, smoking, pickling, or drying, and are ineffective in covering the taste of spoiled meat. Moreover, spices have always been comparatively expensive: in 15th century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of the cheapest spice, pepper. There is also no evidence of such use from contemporary cookbooks: "Old cookbooks make it clear that spices weren't used as a preservative. They typically suggest adding spices toward the end of the cooking process, where they could have no preservative effect whatsoever." Indeed, Cristoforo di Messisbugo suggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage.

Though some spices have antimicrobial properties in vitro, pepper—by far the most common spice—is relatively ineffective, and in any case, salt, which is far cheaper, is also far more effective.

Classification and types

Culinary herbs and spices

Main article: List of culinary herbs and spices

Botanical basis

• Seeds, such as fennel, mustard, nutmeg, and black pepper
• Fruits, such as cayenne pepper and Chimayo pepper
• Arils, such as mace (part of nutmeg plant fruit)
• Barks, such as true cinnamon and cassia
• Flower buds, such as cloves
• Stigmas, such as saffron
• Roots and rhizomes, such as turmeric, ginger and galangal
• Resins, such as asafoetida

Common spice mixtures

Main article: Spice mix

• Advieh (Iran)
• Baharat (Arab world, and the Middle East in general)
• Berbere (Ethiopia and Eritrea)
• Yaji (spice blend) (Nigeria)
• Bumbu (Indonesia)
• Cajun (United States)
• Chaat masala (Indian subcontinent)
• Chili powder and crushed red pepper (Cayenne, Chipotle, Jalapeño, New Mexico, Tabasco, and other cultivars)
• Curry powder
• Five-spice powder (China)
• Garam masala (Indian subcontinent)
• Harissa (North Africa)
• Hawaij (Yemen)
• Jerk spice (Jamaica)
• Khmeli suneli (Georgia)
• Masala (a generic name for any mix used in the Indian subcontinent)
• Mixed spice (United Kingdom)
• Panch phoron (Indian subcontinent)
• Pumpkin pie spice (United States)
• Quatre épices (France)
• Ras el hanout (North Africa)
• Sharena sol (literally "colorful salt", Bulgaria)
• Shichimi tōgarashi (Japan)
• Speculaas (Belgium and Netherlands)
• Thuna Paha (Sri Lanka)
• Vegeta (Croatia) and a generic name for the staple brand in Central and Eastern Europe
• Za'atar (Middle East)

Handling

Ground spices

A mortar and pestle is the classic set of tools for grinding a whole spice. Less labor-intensive tools are more common now: a microplane or fine grater can be used to grind small amounts; a coffee grinderOther types of coffee grinders, such as a burr mill, can grind spices just as well as coffee beans. is useful for larger amounts. A frequently used spice such as black pepper may merit storage in its own hand grinder or mill.

The flavor of a spice is derived in part from compounds (volatile oils) that oxidize or evaporate when exposed to air. Grinding a spice greatly increases its surface area and so increases the rates of oxidation and evaporation. Thus, the flavor is maximized by storing a spice whole and grinding when needed. The shelf life of a whole dry spice is roughly two years; of a ground spice roughly six months. The "flavor life" of a ground spice can be much shorter.Nutmeg, in particular, suffers from grinding and the flavor will degrade noticeably in a matter of days. Ground spices are better stored away from light.Light contributes to oxidation processes.

Some flavor elements in spices are soluble in water; many are soluble in oil or fat. As a general rule, the flavors from a spice take time to infuse into the food so spices are added early in preparation. This contrasts to herbs which are usually added late in preparation.

Salmonella contamination

A study by the Food and Drug Administration of shipments of spices to the United States during fiscal years 2007–2009 showed about 7% of the shipments were contaminated by Salmonella bacteria, some of it antibiotic-resistant. As most spices are cooked before being served salmonella contamination often has no effect, but some spices, particularly pepper, are often eaten raw and are present at the table for convenient use. Shipments from Mexico and India, a major producer, were the most frequently contaminated. Food irradiation is said to minimize this risk.

Production

Standardization

The International Organization for Standardization addresses spices and condiments, along with related food additives, as part of the International Classification for Standards 67.220 series.

Gallery

File:Gato negro.jpg|The Gato Negro café and spice shop (Buenos Aires, Argentina) File:Spice shop, Mashad, Iran.jpg|A spice shop selling a variety of spices in Iran File:Night Spice market in Casablanca.JPG|Night spice shop in Casablanca, Morocco File:Taliparamba Market.jpg|A spice shop in Taliparamba, India File:Taliparamba grocery.jpg|Spices sold in Taliparamba, India File:Spice seller, Kashgar market.jpg|Spice seller at a market in Kashgar, China File:Spice Market, Marakech (2242330035).jpg|Spice market, Marrakesh, Morocco

Notes

References

Sources

References

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