Cnapter 13 



FOOD ACCESSORIES AND SPICES 



Spices, like perfumes, have been eagerly sought after by man 

 since before the beginnings of recorded history. Especially in the 

 hot climates — and this is the region which supplies most of the 

 spices — they were used as preservatives of foods long before re- 

 frigeration was invented. Indeed, spices played such an important 

 part in the affairs of early civilizations that they were as much in 

 demand as gold, and much of the early exploration was the result 

 of attempts to find other routes to spice-producing regions. A 

 necessity of rich and poor alike, spices commanded fabulous 

 prices, and much bloodshed occurred as the result of various 

 countries' attempts to monopolize the European spice trade. This 

 is said to have been originated by the Arabs, who brought their 

 products from India to Arabia, and finally to Europe. Later the 

 trade in spices was controlled in turn by Venice, Portugal — 

 which monopolized the spice traffic for two centuries — Holland, 

 and Great Britain. The latter two empires share the present day 

 spice trade, which though not as great as in former times, still 

 accounts for ten to twenty million dollars worth of imports 

 annually into the United States alone. Most spices are imported 

 in the raw or crude form, in order to insure their freedom from 

 adulteration, and are refined or converted to the powdered form 

 in United States factories. 



The aromatic properties of spices, like those of perfumes, are 

 generally due to presence of essential oils or some other volatile 

 substance within the plant tissues. Their value to the plants con- 

 taining them is questionable; they probably represent by- 

 products of the plant's metabolism. Since some are very sharp 

 tasting and highly irritating substances, their presence may dis- 

 courage insects and other animals from feeding upon such plants. 

 On the other hand, some of those with a pleasing odor are sup- 



224 



I 



