History of Spice Notes

History Of Spice Egyptians using upd a lot of zests for training and stuffed mummies Burned cinnamon to hide stench First recorded spice Traded spice with India Spice trade silk road All roads go to fertile crescent Arabs created a monopoly on the spice trade go toward atomic number 63 Arabs Kept Europeans in the dark about the source of spices brought from India Created secrets and Myths efficiency b oil seeds so Europeans couldnt grow it Crusaders brought spikelet new spices when they returned from passage of arms which increased demand in Europe and had also developed a taste for spice increasing demand Spice irresistible impulses Only attainable by ruling classEmblems of power, gifts of state, heirlooms, currency Pepper worth its weight in g sr., apply as currency Plagued by counterfeiting Dried juniper berries (added to exceed pepper) Spice Obsession Theories system 1 Used spice as preservative (pepper) Not much evidence (salt works fine, local spices, give in fresh meat) Theory 2 Medicine Theory 3 knightly palate was dull Theory 4 Trade Route puffiness Middle man increase prices along silk road End of Obsession (17th century) Figure out you could grow spice Markets were saturated Moderate use of spice New groups of sapiditying chilis coffee tea sugar, chocolate Pepper- Piper nigrumMost important spice economically America is the worlds spaciousst importer Woody, repeated (3 seasons or more), tropical climbing vine No synchrony Monsoon tropical forests of Malabar coats, SW India Heat Alkaloid irritants piperine Inner core Aroma From essential oil Pericarp, outershell Green pepper comes from unripe berries (least hot) Black pepper fully prominent and dried White pepper removed skin (hottest) Cinnamon genus Cinnamomum verum Small coniferous tree in laurel family (true Cinnamon Ceylon) intrinsic to Sri Lanka light flavor, fine texture, little Coumarin 2 yr old branches take and fermented for 24 hrs nner bark peeled and dried to tune quill s Cassia (fake) evergreen native to India, Indonesia and Vietnam Closely related, mostly US Thicker bark, whole tree used Heavy flavor, coarse texture, gritty coumarin Coumarin appetite suppressing medical/ research antioxidant, antimicrobial, character reference II diabetes Saffron Crocus sativus Iran major exporter, actually expensive Perennial bulb, 2 flowers per bulb, completely domesticated 3 stigmas, manual harvest Egypt Cleopatra, healers Disappe bed with Roman empire but came back as stimulate remedy Afghanistan poppy vs. Saffron Flowers pollenation the transfer of pollen from anther to stigmaCross pollination Chance (pollen in air or water), or animals Mutualism, coevolution (trick or reward animals to pollenate) Egyptians thought divine power, blue lotus antique Greece floral wreaths Ancient Rome Floralia festival Christian flowers where pure no sex Theophrastus date palms pollinated by hand, proved reproduction Fall of romish empire, fall of flower, (great suspicion ) Gained popularity Europe 600 AD Posies thought to ward off plague Saint Thomas set outs have reproductive virtues Linnaeus taxonomic system establish on flowers Botanophilia Victorian Age women grew flowersSexual repression, low tolerance of crime, and strong brotherly ethic Grew orchids (a massive man-made extinction event) epiphytic plant plant grow on another plant (non-parasitic) Orchidmania Biggest anthesis plant family, highly evolved (very guarded against self-pollination), native species on every continent Grow slowly (7 yrs to mature and flower), long lived Catasetum orchid stir Darwins early book Ghost orchid Tulipmania Extreme heterozygote First complaisant around turkey then moved to Holland Tulip breaking potyvirus (suppressed anthocyanin) (weakened plant) Spread by peach/potato aphidMutability, novelty, favored by royalty, bubonic plague era, scarcity/ demand 1635 shift, traded in future promissory notes Greater Fool Theory (1637 crash) Smell 1 0f 50 human gene s in the human genome are devoted to tactile sensation Olfaction sense of smell, chemical scintillas Olfactory share transmits signals to limbic system To smell mustiness have Volatile must easily evaporate Water soluble Lipid soluble essential oils is what makes plants smell (2nd ary plant metabolite) Isolation of Essential Oils heat effects the smell Expression simplest, squeezed out, citrusDistillation most used, seethe, collect steam, condense to oil Solvent blood line delicate flowers, grind up, steep in chemicals, then evaporate Effleurage oldest method, plant material in fat, dissolve out fat Synthetic molecule Scent and Memory Proustian Effect smell linked to memories, takes you back Scent marketing Billboard smell makes bold statement (popcorn) thematic smell compliments decor (Christmas smell) Ambient smell cover severe odor Signature smell Sugar (refers to many groups of carbohydrates) Monosaccharides simple sugars, set up be broken down Glucose basic source of ene rgy (produced photosynthesis)Disaccharides 2 monosacc. Are joined together and H2O removed Glucose can from stiffen (storage in plants) or glycogen (storage in animals) Honey was the first enticement used by humans Sugarcane Native to S/SE Asia, cultivated in India Large tropical grass, stores sucrose in internodes Stems crushed, boil sap, separate sugar crystals US 150 lbs/ yr consumed Arab traders brought to Mediterranean, sugar reached Europe after crusades, Columbus to Dominican Republic Labor first from terminalemic people and forced labor from Europe Solve labor shortfall imported slave British dominant traders in slaves and sugarSeen as menial and replaceable Malnutrition and starvation Triangle trade Sugar, rum to Europe guns, salt, squeeze to Africa slaves to Caribbean Sugar, molasses to America rum to Africa, slaves to Car. Why so brutal? Very profitable, high demand, triangle trade Occurred in isolation unskilled labor abolitionists end in 1834 Chocolate Cacao tree Theobroma cacao, native tropical S America, Grows tall, hot climate, lots of rain, understory tree (shaded, damp) Cauliflory flowers from trunk or large branches Each flower potential fruit, insect that pollinates only in understory Olmec, Mayan, AztecProcess zymolysis pulp liquefied, seeds briefly germinate (choc. Flavor) Drying lose weight, outer shell loosens roast refines flavor Winnowing removes outer shell Cravings Caffeine and theobromine (humans not very sensitive to ) Cannabinoid mimics Phenethylamines chemicals associated with love Serotonin Coffee Coffea, understory tree, tropical evergreen, produc berries 3 yrs old Coffee fruit (drupe) contains 2 coffee beans boil down of origin Ethiopia highlands Coffea Arabica 1st cultivated, wimpy (lower caffeine and yield) Coffea canephora (robusta) 2x caffeine, greater yieldShade Grown (traditional) coffee Originally understory trees Diverse habitat Minimal emergency for pesticides and fertilizers Sun Grown Coffee Monoculture sys tem produced by clear piercing forest Increased fertilizers herbicides and insecticides Increased soil erosion Coffee berry borer, natural predator ants Tea Popularity tea, coffee, beer Camellia sinensis, evergreen tree/bush China tea, 1st discovered and cultivated, cool climate, lower yield, lighter flavor Assam Tea, tree, less resistant to cold, high yields, brisk flavor Center or origin chinaOxidation=fermentation Startch to sugar, tannins released Polyphenols Antioxidant properties Catechines 25% Concentrated in fresh, unbroken, unfermented Tannins 50% break leaves tannins released Types Tulsi tea related to mint, not china tea Medical/religious, India Hinduism Black withered, full fermentation, crushed, dries (usually assam tea) brick Oolong btw withered, short fermentation, rolled or ball form Green Tea little withering, dried, high polyphenols (china tea) White tea younker leaves, no oxidation, higher catechins, healthyiest *