• Shaqima • Buñuelos: Deep-Fried Cardamom-Spiced Fritters Soaked in Saffron Syrup
Dajaj Gdra bil-Lawz: Spiced Chicken in Almond Sauce
Pollo en Mole Verde de Pepita: Spiced Chicken in Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce
Prehistoric Mansaf: Kid and Lamb Stew with Yogurt, Root Crops, and Herbs
Spice Boxes
The spices profiled in this book embrace an eclectic assortment of herbs, incenses, gums, fruits, musks, and teas. Some are esoteric, such as frankincense and mastic, while others are familiar and beloved, like cumin and chocolate. Some might come as a surprise, since they are not widely thought of as spices, like pomegranate, caper, and Damascus rose. But what all of these have in common is that they were in high demand throughout history as flavorings, fragrances, and pharmaceuticals. Because many aromatics were specific to certain geographic areas, they had to be traded for rather than produced locally. These valuable commodities gave their names to the roads by which they were traded, which became collectively known as the Spice Routes. The spice profiles give an overview of the vernacular names, folk uses, medicinal applications, and local lore surrounding each of these global travelers.
Mastic
Frankincense
Turmeric
Cardamom
Saffron
Cassia cinnamon
Capers
Sesame
Cloves
Damascus rose • Rose of Castile
Melegueta pepper • Grains of Paradise
Musk
Ginger
Pomegranate
Sumac
Anise
Coriander • Cilantro
Star anise
Sichuan pepper
Tuocha pu-erh • Camel’s breath tea
Cumin
Chile peppers
Annatto • Achiote
Allspice • Jamaica pepper
Vanilla
Chocolate
Illustrations
PLATES
1.A selection of spices
2.Frankincense gum oozing from a tree trunk in the nejd of Southern Oman
3.A Yemeni spice trader
4.Depiction of a camel caravan from the Middle Ages
5.Muslim women in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, selling vegetables, fruits, and spices
6.The facades of tombs cut from the rock cliff in Petra, Jordan
7.Ships arriving for trade in the harbors of the South China Sea
8.A stand selling mole preparations at the Flower Festival of San Angel, Mexico City
9.An Arab transformed into a taco vendor at a mobile food stand in Baja California Sur
FIGURES
1.An Omani forester approaches a frankincense tree
2.The al-Balid ruins near Salalah, Oman
3.A dhow near Lamu, Kenya
4.Bahla Fort in Oman
5.An oxen-driven water wheel being used for irrigation
6.Harira stews at Siwa Oasis in Egypt
7.A well in the Negev
8.Ruins of an ancient Omani trading center below the Jabal al-Akhdar plateau
9.Cloves spread out to dry in Zanzibar
10.Salman the Persian meeting merchants from the Quraysh tribe
11.Merchants in Timbuktu
12.Symbols carved above doorways in the Jewish section of Essaouira, Morocco
13.Herbal Viagra in a market in Dushanbe, Tajikistan
14.A camel train in Mongolia
15.Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, The Capitulation of Granada, 1882
16.The eastern part of the Anping Bridge, China
17.Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou, China
18.A three-masted junk
19.Vasco da Gama delivering the letter of King Manuel of Portugal to the samuthiri of Calicut
20.The processing of cacao pods in the West Indies
MAPS
1.Spice trails of the Arabian Peninsula and Arabian Sea
2.Spice trails of the Sahara
3.Spice trails of the Desert Silk Roads and Maritime Silk Roads
4.Spice trails of the New World
PLATE 1. Clockwise, from top left: annatto, cardamom, melegueta pepper (also known as grains of paradise), dried frankincense gum, star anise, long pepper, sumac, turmeric, fennel, and coriander. (Photos by Lia Tjandra.)
PLATE 2. Frankincense gum oozing from a tree trunk in the nejd of southern Oman. This fragrant resin, popular as a spice and incense, was one of the most coveted objects in the early global aromatics trade. (Photo by the author.)
PLATE 3. Yemeni spice trader. (iStockphoto.)
PLATE 4. Depiction of a camel caravan from the Middle Ages. (Color lithograph by J. Coin from L’Art arab d’après les monuments du Kaire, 1877. Art and Architecture Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.)
PLATE 5.
