Early Modern Europe and the Asian Spice Trade
Mar 10, 2011 Michael Streich
In 1510 Portuguese Admiral Albuquerque established a trading port in Goa on the eastern coast of India. He later sailed to Malacca on the Malay Peninsula, attempting to create a monopoly of the spice trade for Portugal. Spices from the east as well as from Africa were widely used in the Ancient Mediterranean civilizations but the spice trade dwindled rapidly in conjunction with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Europe rediscovered eastern spices during the time of the Crusades and the celebrated travels of Marco Polo in the late 13th Century.
The use of Spices in the Ancient World
Both Greece and Rome traded in spices from the east. The oldest known cookbook derives from the early Roman imperial period. For Ancient Romans, the banquet was a major social event, carefully planned and executed. Chef Jim Botsaco, an authority on Ancient Greek cuisine, writes that, “Food, in every respect, was a consuming passion.”
A minted garlic spread, for example, lists coriander and cumin as ingredients. Cumin, used to season meats, was imported from the Middle East. Coriander was believed to have been first imported from Egypt. Garlic has been traced to the earliest Mesopotamian civilizations and used as a spice as well as medicine.
The Spice Trade Enriches Europeans after the Low Middle Ages
By the time Bartholomew Dias rounded the tip of Africa in 1488, European states were already in fierce competition for the spice trade. The Renaissance city-state of Venice was at the forefront of this trade, known especially for the importation of black pepper. Trade caravans making their way west into Syria competed with the Sahara trade in Northern Africa.
In Asia Minor, Constantinople became a hub for the eastern trade, particularly after the closing of the Black Sea trade routes. At the same time, the Red Sea connected Asia and Alexandria in Egypt with European ports. Cloves, first identified with China 2,500 years ago, were eventually imported from Madagascar and Zanzibar in Africa.
Marzipan, a highly prized confection, was produced in Sicily by the early 12th Century, having been transported to the Mediterranean from Persia. Cinnamon came from Ceylon (today Sri Lanka) but originated in China. The introduction of sugar is credited to Arabs that brought the luxury sweetener to Europe from India, although Portugal soon established the lucrative sugar trade on plantations off the coast of Africa as well as in Brazil and the Caribbean islands.
The Disruption of the Middle Eastern Spice Trade
Under favorable conditions, a caravan traveling from Alexandria in Egypt to Mecca, a hub for the east-west trade, took forty days. Wars, bandits, and weather often lengthened this time. Further travel to Baghdad made the journey more perilous during times of war. In 1453 Mehmet II captured Constantinople, enabling a Muslim trade monopoly of the eastern Mediterranean.
Well-off Europeans looked for a safer, faster route to the east. Columbus, inspired by Marco Polo, sailed west in 1492. Mercantile competition and the desire for eastern spices motivated other “explorers” and those merchants and financiers that paid for the voyages.
Eastern Spices Created Wealth
An investor with a cargo full of ginger could return to Europe and retire wealthy. As the competition for the spice trade shifted in Europe, ports like Antwerp grew wealthy. Ships sailing from Alexandria, for example, are known to have bypassed Italian ports in favor of Dutch ports, especially when prices of lucrative spices such as pepper fell.
The Portuguese were eventually eclipsed by the Dutch and later the English. Ultimately, neither Portugal nor the Netherlands could sustain their global empire. The continued influx of “east Indies goods,” however, enriched European societies and may have played a role in expanding a fledgling middle class able to afford goods once termed “the luxury trade.”
Sources:
- Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II (HarperCollins, 1972)
- Fernand Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization & Capitalism 15th-18th Century, Volume II (HarperCollins,1979)
- Francine Segan, The Philosopher’s Kitchen: Recipes From Ancient Greece and Rome For the Modern Cook (Random House, 2004)
- Gail Simmons and Tor Eigeland, “Couscous Crossroads,” Saudi Aramco World (January/February 2011)
- Miriam Feinberg Vamosh, Food At The Time Of The Bible (Palphot Ltd, 2004)
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