1) Spices were highly valuable commodities in medieval Europe and were used both for flavoring food and for medicinal purposes based on humorism theory. The most common European spices at the time, like black pepper and cinnamon, were expensive imports from Asia and Africa. 2) The search for cheaper sources of spices was a major motivation for European exploration beginning in the 15th century. Figures like Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus sought new trade routes and lands that could produce spices to break the Venetian monopoly on the spice trade. 3) Indian cuisine incorporates a wide variety of native and imported spices that are used whole, ground, roasted, or sautéed to both flavor foods and provide

1. SPICESSPICES
University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest
Coordinating teacher: Mihai Daniel Frumuşelu Ceaureanu Valeria Andreea, MIEDAR IMAPA, GROUP 8217
Ghilencea Mihai Ionuţ, MIEDAR IMAPA, GROUP 8217
“The secret of happiness is variety , but the secret of variety, like the
secret of all spices , is knowing when to use it”- Daniel Gilbert

2. Middle Ages
Spices were among the most demanded and expensive products
available in Europe in the Middle Ages, 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, a daily basis for good health at a time of recurrent
pandemics.
Spices were all imported from plantations in Asia and Africa, which
made them expensive. 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.

3. 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.Spain and Portugal were not happy to pay the high price that Venice demanded for
spices. At around the same time, Christopher Columbus returned from the New World, he described to investors new
spices available there.
With the discovery of the New World came new spices, including allspice, chili peppers, vanilla, and chocolate.
This development kept the spice trade, with America as a late comer with its new seasonings, profitable well into
the 19th century.
As times have changed and convenience has become a major factor for consumers, the spice trade has shifted into
finding cheaper alternatives to satisfy demand.One of these ways is diluting spices to make inferior quality
powdered spices, by including roots, skins and other admixture in production of spice powder.
Early modern period

4. INDIAN SPICESINDIAN SPICES
The fame of Indian spices is older than the recorded history. The story of Indian Spices is more than 7000 years
old.Centuries before Greece and Rome had been discovered, sailing ships were carrying Indian spices, perfumes and
textiles to Mesopotamia, Arabia and Egypt.
Indian cuisine is characterized by the extensive use of numerous spices. Spices or Masala as it is called in Hindi, may
be called the “heartbeat” of an Indian kitchen.Indian spices include a variety of spices grown across the Indian
subcontinent (a sub-region of South Asia). With different climates in different parts of the country, India produces a
variety of spices, many of which are native to the Subcontinent, while others were imported from similar climates and
have since been cultivated locally for centuries.
Spices are used in different forms: whole, chopped, ground, roasted, sautéed, fried, and as topping. They blend
food to extract the nutrients and bind them in a palatable form. Lighter spices are added last, and spices with strong
flavour should be added first.
During their long and fascinating history, spices have often been more valuable than gold or precious stones, and
the trade of spices has been an extraordinarily influential factor in history.

5. Spices and aromatics are the very heart of Indian
cooking. They have been used since ancient times. They
were mentioned in the ancient Hindu scriptures called the
Vedas, ancient Egyptian papyruses and the Old Testament.
The word spice comes from Latin
species, meaning a commodity of value
and distinction.
Many researchers
have attempted to
explain why hot
spices are pleasant
to taste. It seems
the burning
sensation is the
pain of nerve
endings on the
tongue.
This releases endorphins, the
body’s natural painkillers,
giving rise to pleasurable and
even euphoric sensations.
The fame of Indian spices is older than the
recorded history. The story of Indian Spices is
more than 7000 years old.Centuries before
Greece and Rome had been discovered, sailing
ships were carrying Indian spices, perfumes and
textiles to Mesopotamia, Arabia and Egypt.

6. Let's not forget that when Christopher Columbus set sail for the Indies
(following the unorthodox notion of getting there faster by heading in exactly
the wrong direction), he was searching for pepper. Not gold or jewels, but pepper
and other spices. He never found the passage to the Indies he was hoping for,
and he never found the pepper he was searching for, but the world was changed
forever because of our passion for strange new flavors from faraway places.

7. A spice shop selling a variety of spices in Iran
An assortment of spices used in Indian cuisine Spice market, Marakesh
Spices and herbs at a grocery shop in Goa, India
Spices at central market in Agadir, Morocco
A spice shop in Taliparamba, India

8. "The Mullus" Harvesting pepper. Illustration from a French edition of The Travels of Marco Polo.

9. Indian spices
offer
significant
health
benefits
and
contribute
towards
an
individual's
healthy life.
They add flavor
and nutrients
to dishes
without fat
or calories!

11. “Once you get a spice in your home, you have it forever. Women never
throw out spices. The Egyptians were buried with their spices. I know
which one I'm taking with me when I go.”- Erma Bombeck

12. REFERENCES
www.ecurry.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.indianfoodsite.com
www.indianfood.indianetzone.com
Thanks for your attention!Thanks for your attention!