It’s why Venice treacherously overthrew the Byzantine Empire with the Fourth “Crusade.” It’s why Portuguese rulers sent mariners ever further south down the coast of Africa, until Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope, followed later by Vasco DeGama. It’s why the Dutch created the world’s first modern joint-stock company, the Dutch East India Company.
IT? It’s the spices of India, Southeast Asia and the Spice Islands.
Chef and food writer Michael Krondl tells the story of how each city, in turn, became the spice capital of Europe in this fascinating read. Throwing in dashes, pinches and soupçons of food sociology, medieval cooking and more on the way, Krondl pens what can only be considered a flavorful read.
Seriously, you’ll learn that Europeans, even today’s bland-eating French, went as heavy with the spices as most East Asians did 500 years ago. You’ll learn their favorites. You’ll learn the dark side of the spice trade, such as Dutch slavery and genocide, its profit margin and more. You’ll also see a few myths about spices debunked. You may even get ideas for new cooking yourself.
Krondl also has a website with not only selected pages from the book, but historical and modern U.S. and global spice consumption, recipes and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment