A Brief History of Spice

Many of the distinctive flavours in our cooking come from the addition of spices, but to think that this a relatively new trend is to ignore the illustrious history of spices and the spice trade since ancient times. The palate of our forebears was not one limited by the flavours of the food alone, but enhanced and enriched by the wide variety of available spices that formed the boom of commerce known as the spice trade. To this day we still use many of the spices of the old world in our foods as their enduring qualities have lived through thousands of years to continually help in the production of authentic, and delicious, world cuisine.

Coriander There are many spices available today that can bring any and every dish to life, but three of the world’s oldest spices are coriander, cinnamon and cloves. These have been used for thousands of years, and their enduring popularity can be attributed to the vibrancy and depth of flavour they bring to any dish. Popular in many Indian dishes is coriander, also known as dhania in Indian cooking. Indeed, coriander is often considered to be the most important of all Indian spices. This spice adds a lemony-citrus flavour to any dish, and is a popular addition to garam masala and many Indian curries. Etymologically, the name potentially comes from Mycenaean Greek, specifically Minos’s daughter Ariadne, who was also called Koriannon.

Cinnamon Similarly, cinnamon has flavoured foods for thousands of years, lending dishes a deep, aromatic and earthen quality. The roots of this spice stretch back as far as Ancient Egypt, to around roughly 2000 BCE, and was thought of so highly that it was a fitting gift to the gods; there is an inscription recording the gift of cinnamon to the gods at the Temple of Apollo at Miletus. Today, cinnamon’s well loved flavour sees it used in both sweet and savoury dishes all over the world, from desserts of the western world to its importance as a spice in the savoury foods of Persian and Arabic culture.

Cloves

Archaeological excavations in Syria have unearthed the remains of cloves burnt into an ancient Mesopotamian kitchen floor, dating this spice back to 1700 BCE at the earliest. Cloves are the dried buds of the clove tree, and possess an extremely strong flavour that pairs well with vanilla, cinnamon and star anise. Like cinnamon, cloves can be used in either sweet or savoury dishes to add a real depth of flavour and intensity to the dish, without the addition of any extra heat.

As a dedicated online Indian grocery store, Shop Spicy stock all of these exciting spices and more. We are happy to bring you our years of experience in providing high quality Indian foods and spices to enhance the flavours, textures and depth of your food.