FOOD ACCESSORIES AND SPICES 233 



From the foregoing discussion of the number of plants which 

 have become staple adjuncts of the human diet because of their 

 pleasing flavor, it can be seen that early man was interested not 

 only in those plants which could be used directly as foods, but also 

 in those which could be added to foods to make eating a more 

 pleasant pastime. 



In fact, man seemed to value such food accessories as pepper, 

 nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and ginger far more than he did many 

 essential foods; many voyages into unknown seas which resulted 

 in land discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were 

 prompted by a desire to secure these highly prized food adjuncts. 



In somewhat the same fashion, as we shall see in the following 

 chapter, man has held in high esteem those plants which could 

 give him pleasing beverages. The story of tea, coff'ee and choco- 

 late is also a stirring series of adventures into far lands to secure 

 plants which essentially are not a vital part of the human diet, but 

 which even so have come to play an important role in man's 

 search for useful plants. 



