The History and Natural History of Spices: The 5000-Year Search for Flavour

The dramatic search for spices through history, and how the pursuit of rare flavors changed and opened up our world

Spices have been highly valued since at least the Bronze Age, with the so-called Spice Trade, spanning Asia to the Mediterranean, developing from the late centuries BC. By the first century AD, Roman society spent vast sums fueling their demand for spices, importing black pepper from India and other exotics from further afield. Importing spices from the east was a daunting and...