History of Spice Notes

History Of Spice Egyptians drug abused a lot of spices for homework and stuffed mummies Burned cinnamon to hide stench First recorded spice Traded spice with India Spice trade silk road All roads go to plenteous crescent Arabs created a monopoly on the spice trade moving toward Europe Arabs Kept Europeans in the dark about the source of spices brought from India Created secrets and Myths Might boil seeds so Europeans couldnt grow it Crusaders brought back new spices when they returned from battle which increased demand in Europe and had also developed a taste for spice change magnitude demand Spice Obsessions Only attainable by ruling classEmblems of power, gifts of state, heirlooms, currency Pepper worth its weight in gold, used as currency Plagued by counterfeiting Dried juniper berries (added to extend capsicum pepper plant) Spice Obsession Theories Theory 1 Used spice as preservative (pepper) Not much evidence (salt plant fine, local spices, afford fresh meat) Theory 2 Medic ine Theory 3 Medieval palate was dull Theory 4 Trade way of life Inflation Middle man increase prices along silk road End of Obsession (17th century) Figure out you could grow spice Markets were saturated Moderate use of spice New groups of flavoring chilis coffee tea sugar, chocolate Pepper- Piper nigrumMost important spice economically America is the worlds largest importer Woody, perennial (3 seasons or more), tropical climbing vine No synchrony Monsoon tropical forests of Malabar coats, SW India Heat Alkaloid irritants piperine Inner core Aroma From essential oil Pericarp, outershell Green pepper comes from unripe berries (least hot) Black pepper fully grown and dehydrated snow-covered pepper removed skin (hottest) Cinnamon Cinnamomum verum Small evergreen steer in laurel family (true Cinnamon Ceylon) Native to Sri Lanka light flavor, fine texture, little Coumarin 2 yr old branches cut and fermented for 24 hrs nner bark peeled and dried to form quills Cassia (fake) evergreen autochthonic to India, Indonesia and Vietnam Closely related, approximatelyly US Thicker bark, whole manoeuvre used Heavy flavor, coarse texture, mellowed coumarin Coumarin appetite suppressing checkup/ research antioxidant, antimicrobial, type II diabetes Saffron Crocus sativus Iran major exporter, very expensive Perennial bulb, 2 flowers per bulb, completely domesticated 3 stigmas, manual harvest Egypt Cleopatra, healers Disappe atomic number 18d with roman Empire but came back as abuse remedy Afghanistan poppy vs. Saffron Flowers Pollination the transfer of pollen from anther to stigmaCross pollination Chance (pollen in air or water), or animals Mutualism, coevolution (trick or reward animals to pollenate) Egyptians thought divine power, blue lotus Ancient Greece floral wreaths Ancient Rome Floralia festival Christian flowers where pure no invoke Theophrastus date palms pollinated by hand, proved reproduction Fall of roman empire, fall of flower, (great suspicion) Gained popularity Europe 600 AD Posies thought to ward off plague Saint doubting Thomas plants have reproductive virtues Linnaeus taxonomic system based on flowers Botanophilia Victorian Age women grew flowersSexual repression, low tolerance of crime, and strong social ethic Grew orchids (a wide man-made extinction event) Epiphytic plant plant grow on a nonher plant (non-parasitic) Orchidmania Biggest flowering plant family, highly evolved (very guarded against self-pollination), native species on every continent Grow slowly (7 yrs to mature and flower), long lived Catasetum orchid inspired Darwins early book Ghost orchid Tulipmania utmost(prenominal) heterozygote First cultivated around turkey then moved to Holland Tulip breaking potyvirus (suppressed anthocyanin) (weakened plant) Spread by peach/potato aphidMutability, novelty, favored by royalty, bubonic plague era, scarcity/ demand 1635 shift, traded in future promissory notes Greater Fool Theory (1637 crash) Smell 1 0f 50 human gen es in the human genome are devoted to intent Olfaction sense of smell, chemical molecules Olfactory tract transmits signals to limbic system To smell must have Volatile must good evaporate Water soluble Lipid soluble Essential oils is what makes plants smell (2nd ary plant metabolite) Isolation of Essential Oils heat effects the smell Expression simplest, squeezed out, citrusDistillation most used, boil, collect steam, condense to oil Solvent extraction delicate flowers, grind up, steep in chemicals, then evaporate Effleurage oldest method, plant material in fat, conclude out fat Synthetic molecule Scent and Memory Proustian Effect smell linked to memories, takes you back Scent marketing Billboard smell makes bold statement (popcorn) Thematic smell compliments decor (Christmas smell) Ambient smell cover foul odor Signature smell Sugar (refers to more groups of carbohydrates) Monosaccharides simple sugars, piece of tailt be broken down Glucose basic source of energy (produced ph otosynthesis)Disaccharides 2 monosacc. Are joined together and H2O removed Glucose can from starch (storage in plants) or glycogen (storage in animals) Honey was the first sweetener used by humans Sugarcane Native to S/SE Asia, cultivated in India Large tropical grass, stores sucrose in internodes Stems crushed, boil sap, separate sugar crystals US 150 lbs/ yr consumed Arab traders brought to Mediterranean, sugar reached Europe later on crusades, Columbus to Dominican Republic Labor first from indigenous people and forced labor from Europe Solve labor shortage imported hard worker British dominant traders in slaves and sugarSeen as unskilled and replaceable Malnutrition and starvation Triangle trade Sugar, rum to Europe guns, salt, iron to Africa slaves to Caribbean Sugar, molasses to America rum to Africa, slaves to Car. why so brutal? Very profitable, high demand, triangle trade Occurred in isolation unskilled labor abolitionists end in 1834 Chocolate Cacao tree Theobroma cacao, native tropical S America, Grows tall, hot climate, lots of rain, understory tree (shaded, damp) Cauliflory flowers from trunk or large branches Each flower potential fruit, insect that pollinates still in understory Olmec, Mayan, AztecProcess Fermentation pulp liquefied, seeds briefly germinate (choc. Flavor) Drying lose weight, outer shell loosens Roasting refines flavor Winnowing removes outer shell Cravings Caffeine and theobromine (humans not very sensitive to ) Cannabinoid mimics Phenethylamines chemicals associated with love Serotonin Coffee Coffea, understory tree, tropical evergreen, produc berries 3 yrs old Coffee fruit (drupe) contains 2 coffee beans meaning of origin Ethiopia highlands Coffea Arabica 1st cultivated, wimpy (lower caffeine and yield) Coffea canephora (robusta) 2x caffeine, greater yieldShade Grown (traditional) coffee Originally understory trees Diverse habitat Minimal need for pesticides and fertilizers cheer Grown Coffee Monoculture system produced b y clear cutting forest Increased fertilizers herbicides and insecticides Increased soil erosion Coffee berry borer, natural vulture ants Tea Popularity tea, coffee, beer Camellia sinensis, evergreen tree/shrub China tea, 1st discovered and cultivated, cool climate, lower yield, lighter flavor Assam Tea, tree, less resistant to cold, high yields, brisk flavor Center or origin chinaOxidation=fermentation Startch to sugar, tannins released Polyphenols Antioxidant properties Catechines 25% Concentrated in fresh, unbroken, unfermented Tannins 50% break leaves tannins released Types Tulsi tea related to mint, not china tea Medical/religious, India Hinduism Black withered, full fermentation, crushed, dries (usually assam tea) brick Oolong btw withered, short fermentation, rolled or ball form Green Tea little withering, dried, high polyphenols (china tea) White tea young leaves, no oxidation, higher catechins, healthyiest *