Spice#cite note-8

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.{{Sfnp|Davidson|Jaine|2014|loc=spices}}

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.{{Sfnp|Davidson|Jaine|2014|loc=spices}}

{{Seealso|Spice use in antiquity}}

Archeological study of early spice use is difficult, as spices were used in small quantities, leaving few preserved remains.{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Katherine M |title=Routledge International Handbook of Food Studies |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-78264-7 |editor-last=Albala |editor-first=Ken |editor-link=Ken Albala |location=Oxford & New York |chapter=The archaeology of food}}

The spice trade developed throughout the Indian subcontinent{{cite book|author=Steven E. Sidebotham|title=Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tw6LDwAAQBAJ|date=May 7, 2019|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-30338-6|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-date=June 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630115408/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tw6LDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} 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.{{refn |group=note |A team of archaeologists led by Giorgio Buccellati excavating the ruins of a burned-down house at the site of Terqa, in modern-day Syria, found a ceramic pot containing a handful of cloves. The house had burned down around 1720 BC and this was the first evidence of cloves being used in the west before Roman times.Daniel T. Potts (1997), [https://books.google.com/books?id=O_aFGKPsWwcC&pg=PA269 Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164819/https://books.google.com/books?id=O_aFGKPsWwcC&pg=PA269 |date=March 26, 2023 }} A&C Black publishers, p. 269Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa: The First Eight Seasons, Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 33(2), 1983, 47–67{{cite book |last=O'Connell |first=John |title=The Book of Spice: From Anise to Zedoary |publisher=Pegasus Books |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-68177-152-6|url= }}}} 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.{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Food and Culture|last=Woodward|first=Penny|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|year=2003|editor-last=Katz|volume=2|pages=187–195|chapter=Herbs and Spices}}

By 1000 BCE, medical systems based upon herbs could be found in China, Korea, and India.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} Early uses were associated with magic, medicine, religion, tradition, and preservation.{{cite book |last=Murdock |first=Linda | title=A Busy Cook's Guide to Spices: How to Introduce New Flavors to Everyday Meals | publisher=Bellwether Books | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-9704285-0-9 | page=14}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Song of Songs 4:14 - New International Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song+of+Solomon+4:14&version=NIV |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}

Historians believe that nutmeg, which originates from the Banda Islands in Southeast Asia, was introduced to Europe in the 6th century BCE.{{cite book |last=Burkill |first=I.H. |title=A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula |publisher=Ministry of Agriculture and Co-Operatives |location=Kuala Lumpur |year=1966}} The Romans had cloves in the 1st century CE, as Pliny the Elder wrote about them.{{cite book |last=Duke |first=J.A. |title=CRC Handbook of Medicinal Spices |publisher=CRC Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-4200-4048-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPTLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |access-date=May 9, 2017 |page=7 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630115408/https://books.google.com/books?id=vPTLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |url-status=live }}

File:Le livre des merveilles de Marco Polo-pepper.jpg.]]

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".{{Cite book |author=Schivelbusch, Wolfgang |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/24702170 |title=Tastes of paradise : a social history of spices, stimulants, and intoxicants |date=1992 |publisher=Pantheon Books |isbn=0-394-57984-4 |oclc=24702170 |access-date=December 4, 2022 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630115421/https://worldcat.org/title/24702170 |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite journal|last=Freedman|first=Paul|date=June 5, 2015|title=Health, wellness and the allure of spices in the Middle Ages|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|series=Potent Substances: On the Boundaries of Food and Medicine|volume=167|pages=47–53|doi=10.1016/j.jep.2014.10.065|pmid=25450779}}

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.{{cite book |author=Adamson, Melitta Weiss|title=Food in Medieval Times|url=https://archive.org/details/foodmedievaltime00adam_218|url-access=limited|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn|year=2004|isbn=978-0-313-32147-4|page= [https://archive.org/details/foodmedievaltime00adam_218/page/n89 65]}} 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, long pepper, mace, spikenard, galangal, and cubeb.

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.Turner, 2004, p. 11{{Efn|The word "ají" is still used in South American Spanish for chili peppers.}}

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.Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, p. 453, Gil Marks, John Wiley & Sons, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-470-39130-3}} 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.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Mariners Weather Log Vol. 52, No. 3, December 2008 |url=https://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/dec_08/great_exchange.shtml |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=www.vos.noaa.gov}}

File:Common Indian spices.jpg

Spices are primarily used as food flavoring or to create variety.{{Cite news |last=Dennett |first=Carrie |date=January 26, 2017 |title=How a full spice cabinet can keep you healthy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/spices-and-herbs-do-more-than-add-flavor-to-food--they-are-nutritional-powerhouses/2017/01/25/79dbedb4-e24c-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208195529/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/spices-and-herbs-do-more-than-add-flavor-to-food--they-are-nutritional-powerhouses/2017/01/25/79dbedb4-e24c-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html |url-status=live }} 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.Paul Freedman, Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination, 2008, {{isbn|9780300151350}}, p. 2-3

{{quote box|align=right|width=35%|The most popular explanation for the love of spices in the Middle Ages is that they were used to preserve meat from spoiling, or to cover up the taste of meat that had already gone off. This compelling but false idea constitutes something of an urban legend, a story so instinctively attractive that mere fact seems unable to wipe it out... Anyone who could afford spices could easily find meat fresher than what city dwellers today buy in their local supermarket.}}

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.{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Frédéric |last2=Daoust |first2=Simon P. |last3=Raymond |first3=Michel |title=Can we understand modern humans without considering pathogens?: Human evolution and parasites |journal=Evolutionary Applications |date=June 2012 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=368–379 |doi=10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00231.x |pmid=25568057 |pmc=3353360 }} This is false.Paul Freedman, "Food Histories of the Middle Ages", in Kyri W. Claflin, Peter Scholliers, Writing Food History: A Global Perspective, {{isbn|1847888097}}, p. 24Andrew Dalby, Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices, 2000, {{isbn|0520236742}}, p. 156Andrew Jotischky, A Hermit's Cookbook: Monks, Food and Fasting in the Middle Ages, 2011, {{isbn|1441159916}}, p. 170 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."Michael Krondl, The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice, 2007, {{isbn|9780345480835}}, p. 6 Indeed, Cristoforo di Messisbugo suggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage.

Though some spices have antimicrobial properties in vitro,{{cite journal |last1=Shelef |first1=L.A. |title=Antimicrobial Effects of Spices |journal=Journal of Food Safety |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=1984 |pages=29–44 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-4565.1984.tb00477.x}} pepper—by far the most common spice—is relatively ineffective, and in any case, salt, which is far cheaper, is also far more effective.

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{{see also|Outline of herbs and spices}}

File:Indian spices with labels (garam masala components) (49684333301).jpg]]

{{main|List of culinary herbs and spices}}

{{Div col|colwidth=28em}}

• 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

{{Div col end}}

{{main|Spice mix}}

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• Advieh (Iran)
• Baharat (Arab world, and the Middle East in general)
• Berbere (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia)
• 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)

{{Div col end}}

File:Spice-shelf.jpg

{{Anchor|Ground spices}}

File:Peugeot pepper mill.jpg

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.{{Cite episode |title=Spice Capades |episode-link=List of Good Eats episodes#Season 7 |series=Good Eats |series-link=Good Eats |credits=Host: Alton Brown |network=Food Network |airdate=January 14, 2004 |season=7 |number=14 |ref=GE714}} 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.

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.{{cite journal|last=Van Dorena|first=Jane M.|author2=Daria Kleinmeiera|author3=Thomas S. Hammack|author4=Ann Westerman|title=Prevalence, serotype diversity, and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in imported shipments of spice offered for entry to the United States, FY2007–FY2009|journal=Food Microbiology|date=June 2013|volume=34|issue=2|pages=239–251|doi=10.1016/j.fm.2012.10.002|pmid=23541190|quote=Shipments of imported spices offered for entry to the United States were sampled during the fiscal years 2007–2009. The mean shipment prevalence for Salmonella was 0.066 (95% CI 0.057–0.076)|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1258953|access-date=June 16, 2019|archive-date=June 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190616194240/https://zenodo.org/record/1258953|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news |title=Salmonella in Spices Prompts Changes in Farming |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/world/asia/farmers-change-over-spices-link-to-food-ills.html |access-date=August 28, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 27, 2013 |author=Gardiner Harris |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829170450/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/world/asia/farmers-change-over-spices-link-to-food-ills.html |url-status=live }} Food irradiation is said to minimize this risk.{{Cite journal|title=Effects of gamma-irradiation on the free radical and antioxidant contents in nine aromatic herbs and spices.|year = 2003|pmid = 12568551|last1 = Calucci|first1 = L.|last2 = Pinzino|first2 = C.|last3 = Zandomeneghi|first3 = M.|last4 = Capocchi|first4 = A.|last5 = Ghiringhelli|first5 = S.|last6 = Saviozzi|first6 = F.|last7 = Tozzi|first7 = S.|last8 = Galleschi|first8 = L.|journal = Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry|volume = 51|issue = 4|pages = 927–34|doi = 10.1021/jf020739n}}{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2017 |title=Myths about Food Irradiation |url=https://ccr.ucdavis.edu/food-irradiation/myths-about-food-irradiation |access-date=July 30, 2022 |website=Center for Consumer Research |language=en |archive-date=July 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730162900/https://ccr.ucdavis.edu/food-irradiation/myths-about-food-irradiation |url-status=live }}

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File:Spices in an Indian market.jpg, India]]

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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.{{cite web |website=International Organization for Standardization |title=67.220: Spices and condiments. Food additives |year=2009 |url=http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=67&ICS2=220&development=on |access-date=April 23, 2009 |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606151414/http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=67&ICS2=220&development=on |url-status=live }}

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

{{Portal|Food|Medicine}}

• Tempering (spices)
• Spice rub

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Davidson (food writer) |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |last2=Jaine |first2=Tom |author-link2=Tom Jaine |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=9780191756276 |edition=3rd}}

• {{cite book |last=Czarra |first=Fred |year=2009 |title=Spices: A Global History|url=https://archive.org/details/spicesglobalhist0000czar |url-access=registration |publisher=Reaktion Books |page=[https://archive.org/details/spicesglobalhist0000czar/page/128 128] |isbn=978-1-86189-426-7}}
• {{cite book |last=Dalby |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Dalby |year=2000 |title=Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23674-5}}
• {{cite book |last=Freedman |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Freedman |year=2008 |title=Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21131-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Keay |first=John |author-link=John Keay |year=2006 |title=The Spice Route: A History |publisher=John Murray |isbn=978-0-7195-6199-3}}
• {{cite book |last=Krondl |first=Michael |year=2008 |title=The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-345-50982-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Miller |first=James Innes |year=1969 |title=The spice trade of the Roman Empire, 29 B.C. to A.D. 641 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon P. |isbn=978-0-19-814264-5}}
• {{cite book |last=Morton |first=Timothy |title=The Poetics of Spice: Romantic Consumerism and the Exotic |year=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-02666-6}}
• {{cite book |last=Seidemann |first=Johannes |year=2005 |title=World Spice Plants: Economic Usage, Botany, Taxonomy |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-540-22279-8}}
• {{cite book |last=Turner |first=Jack |author-link=Jack Turner (writer) |year=2004 |title=Spice: The History of a Temptation |publisher=Knopf |isbn=978-0-375-40721-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/spicehistoryofte00turn_0 }}

• {{Commons inline}}
• {{Wikibooks inline|Cookbook:Spices and herbs}}
• {{Wiktionary inline|spice}}

{{Herbs & spices}}

{{Cuisine}}

{{Non-timber forest products}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Plant products