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At the dawn of the 17th century, a Dutch merchant ship landed on the shores of Europe full of treasures that would change the eating habits of the European middle class forever. The Dutch East India company was formed in 1602 and quickly seized control of the profitable Spice Islands stretching from the coast of East Africa, across the India Ocean to present day Indonesia and Malaysia. And from the famous ports of Java, Malacca, and Ceylon came exotic spices. Spices had been exported from the Indian Ocean islands to Europe since the ancient Romans and Greeks. But merchants knew of only laborious land routes navigated by caravans. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the Muslims made the prices of spices even more expensive, and their enjoyment was reserved for the nobility that could afford them. Free and open sea routes were soon discovered, and the spices began to flood Europe.
At first, European middleclass households had little knowledge of how to use the spices in cooking, and followed the ancient Roman traditions of using the spices for medicinal purposes. But flavorful sausages, stews and pastries so well known in European cooking today, prove that European cooks soon found a myriad of uses for spices in the kitchen. Today the cultivated spices that find their way on to grocery store shelves are of a wondrous variety, each with their own distinctive flavor, smell and history. Here are five of the most widely used spices in Europe and America.
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is the second most expensive spice after saffron and grows abundantly in the high forests of India. The cardamom plant is classified as a perennial herb that produces oblong fruits from yellow flowers. The fruit contains several seeds that when crushed produce the spice, cardamom. The seeds are highly aromatic and pungent. They are used to flavor cakes and pastries. According to the 1931 British bible on herbs and spices, The Modern Herb by Mrs. M. Grieve, the Egyptians have used the spice for years to flavor their coffees, while the Indians frequently chew it with betel. In France and the United States the oil is used in perfumes. Modern day cooking typically mixes cardamom with orange flavors, cloves and caraway. Expert chefs Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause recommend buying whole cardamom seeds and crushing them as needed, for crushed cardamom quickly loses its potency. (On Cooking: Techniques from Expert Chefs, Simon and Schuster 1995).
Cinnamon (Laurus cinnamomum) is a mainstay in dessert cooking for many Europeans and Americans. This spice comes from large trees with strong branches and leathery leaves. Preferring sandy soils, plentiful rain and lots of shelter, the trees grow best in coastal settings such as Ceylon, South China, Sumatra, India and Jamaica. The bark from the branches is peeled and dried in the sun, then rolled into cigar shaped sticks, officially referred to as quills. Seventeenth and eighteenth century Europeans made good use of cinnamon to stop vomiting and hemorrhaging wounds. The spice has since become a popular addition in many dessert dishes. Cinnamon's spicy flavor also works well with lamb and light meat dishes. Cassia is a close relation to cinnamon but regarded as inferior in quality. Labensky and Hause report that there are no labeling controls for cinnamon and much of what is sold as cinnamon in the United States is mostly cassia.
The ancient Romans are reported to have brought the India spice of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) to Britain, where physicians - following Hippocrates' lead - found it useful for medicinal cures. The spice comes from the cilantro plant and now grows well in most of Southern Europe. Reaching three feet high, the plant produces light mauve flowers that mature into coriander seeds. Mrs. M. Grieve felt the small, round seeds emitted a foul smell when drying, but turned most fragrant as the drying process completed. Surprisingly, coriander seeds carry none of the aroma produced by the cilantro plant. They have their own distinct spicy, yet sweet flavor. The whole or ground seeds are used mainly for pickling mixtures, but also form the basis of drugs for cattle and horses.
Indigenous to Egypt, cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is now cultivated throughout India, China and the Middle East. Cumin is harvested from a plant that grows no higher than a foot and produces rose and white flowers. The mature flowers produce oblong seeds known as cumin. Pliny advised mixing the crushed seeds with water or bread for an all-purpose medicinal cure. Cumin was also thought to contribute to a pallor of the face. Today cumin is an ingredient in curry mixes and is used to flavor sausages and cheeses. Cumin's flavor is quite strong, and Labensky and Hause recommend its limited use as it can easily overwhelm other flavors.
The final spice that finds itself in the pantry of top chefs is fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). A hardy perennial with yellow flowers, this plant originated in the Mediterranean and eastward to India. Ancient Romans and Greeks cultivated the fennel plant for its edible shoots and bulbous stalk. The small, oblong seeds produce a warm, sweet flavor similar to licorice. Ancient Romans believed fennel seeds could restore sight. India and China believed the seeds held a cure for witchcraft. Today the seeds are used whole or ground to flavor soups, stews and sausages. They are most frequently found in Italian and Central European cuisine to flavor pork and fish. The sweet flavor of fennel seeds is also used in breads and pastries. Several varieties of fennel exists, including German, Roman and Saxon fennel.
Although the noble classes throughout Europe had always been able to afford the luxury of spices from the Orient, the middle classes -- before the opening of sea routes to India -- frequently went without. Without cinnamon, the average French femme probably didn't bake the traditional French apple tarts. The German frau would have not be able to buy the most flavorful sausages full of cumin and fennel. And all of these European matrons would have been hard pressed to afford the coriander necessary to pickle and preserve meat during the warm summer months. So when that first Dutch ship returned from a two-year tour of the Indian Ocean and docked at European shores, the cuisine of the European middle class changed forever.
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