Essay On Spices

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There are various types of Spices, which have been in the world for thousands of years these spices range from the well known black pepper to Aniseed, Asafoetida, Cardamom, Carom Seed, Clove, Coriander Seed, Fenugreek, and Mustard seed just to name a few. In the past hunters and gatherers wrapped meat in the leaves of bushes, accidentally discovering that this it enhanced the taste of the meat, so did certain nuts, seeds, berries, and bark. Over the years, spices and herbs were used for medicinal purposes. Back then people did not distinguish between those spices and herbs used for flavoring from those used for medicinal purposes. When leaves, seeds, roots, or gums had a pleasant taste or agreeable odor, it became in demand and gradually became a norm for that culture as a condiment. Today we will take a look at cinnamon, this like all spices have a story behind it which dates back to 2,000 B.C. Cinnamon is the inner layer of the evergreen tree, the spice is mostly harvested in the rainy season when the bark is said to be saturated with water, making it easier to work …show more content…

Over time, news would spread throughout the world of this spice. In 1518 or there about, Portugese realized that Sri Lanka were the producers of cinnamon so they decided to take control of the cinnamon trade, which they successfully did. In 1638 Sri lankans partnered with the dutch in an effort to reclaim their cinnamon trade, but the dutch had alterior motives at the time. For helping the Sri lankans the dutch held them in debt for their efforts. For next 150 years European traders controld the cinnamon trade until 1748 when the british took it from them. In 1800 Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Mauritius, Réunion, and Guyana started to grow and harvest this spice, cinamon became abundant thus making it cheap, as a result the monopoly started the