He who controls spice, controls the universe. This was a grand statement from the sci-fi movie Dune, but can be applied to a period of history spanning thousands of years during which spices were a major force in the world economy. The success of the spice route in its various incarnations over the centuries was directly linked to the rise and fall of maritime powers – who controlled the seas, controlled the spices. And spices made people rich.

The Spice Mystery

Spices began showing up in Africa over 3,500 years ago, according to an Egyptian hieroglyphic inscription. This is the earliest known record of the spice trade, and points to spices travelling up the eastern coast of Africa to Egypt in the north. From there they made their way into Europe and West Asia. They entered Africa from Madagascar, it is thought, and while no one is a hundred per cent sure how they got there in the first place, theory has it that Austronesian traders brought them via the Southern Ocean. Ancient vessels laden with ginger, aloeswood, cinnamon, cassia and other exotic aromatics landed on Africa’s eastern shores.

And while the inhabitants of this spice route saw spices showing up in their marketplaces, they didn’t really know where these strange and beautiful spices came from. “Paradise,” was the common answer. Without geographical knowledge and navigational tools, they could only place spices in the realm of myth. But the truth is, the spices came from Asia.

The Italian Equation

Then as the tentacles of the Roman Empire made their way down to Egypt, the Romans began to tap on the spice trade by developing their own sea route to India, which was a big spice emporium. But it was impossible to sail from Rome via Egypt to India without traversing an overland section – the Suez – and when Islamic powers rose up and shut off this caravan route, they suffocated Rome’s spice trade.

Without the Romans in the picture, the direct sea link to India was left to the Arab traders who wasted no time in monopolising it, carting their spices to Europe through the Levant. Places in the Mediterranean, being geographically closest to the Arab lands, were the first recipients of the spices. From this, Venice ascended and became the chief trading post of spices between the Middle East and Europe, accumulating incredible wealth in the process.

Golden Age of Spices

While Venice was flourishing in the west, another power was rising in the east – Constantinople. Seized by the Ottomans, it became the seat of the fast growing Ottoman Empire and the gateway through which trade from the Middle East to Europe could be allowed – or controlled. Western Europe was now at the mercy of the Ottomans, who could block the overland spice route or exact heavy payment for access to it.

Unwilling to be subjected to Ottoman patrols, rulers in Western Europe went in search of their own spice route. This is when, in the 14th century, the Portuguese succeeded in sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, thereby establishing a direct naval route from Europe to India and eliminating the need to rely on the Middle East land/sea route. In 1497, Vasco da Gama reached Calicut (in Kerala) and the spice trade of India fell back into European hands again.

With the Ottomans out of the way, competition now was between different European powers. While the Portuguese worked on sailing round the Cape, the Spaniards were going the other direction, sailing west. In 1520, Ferdinand Magellan found a strait that cut through South America and using that eventually sailed to the Philippines. From there he went on to the Moluccas, or the Spice Islands, establishing the first westward sea route from Europe to Southeast Asia.

The Dutch and British followed suite, each setting up their East India Trading Companies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and the jostling for territories in Asia began. Under the colonialism of these two European powers, spices poured into the West.

Says Kwan Lui, founder of Academy at-Sunrice, “The Dutch and English monopolised the spice trade through the East India Company. Spices such as cloves, nutmeg and pepper were shipped out and, in return, many Indian and Arab spices were brought back.”

Indonesia became much sought after. Rich in spices, it was a chessboard for the Dutch and British, who tried to outmaneuver each other for dominance. Says Kwan, “Nutmeg, for instance, was found to help people survive the plague, and was a prized commodity. The Dutch and English fought a number of spice wars in the island of Banda and Run for the monopoly of nutmeg. In fact, in the 1661 Treaty of Breda, the Dutch gave up the island of Manhattan for the island of Run!”

Not Too Spicy

Spices continued to be highly valued commodities until the advent of refrigeration in the mid-19th century. As technology for chilling and freezing food grew, so trade in spices slowly declined. Today, spices are no longer the big business of explorers, monarchs and traders, and are relegated to the hands of farmers, food trading companies and supermarkets. But they still play an important part in many cultures – for their culinary, medicinal and cosmetic value – and in the kitchens and restaurants of all good chefs.

Do you know your spices?

Kwan Lui helped us put together the spice profiles of these well-known people. Match the spices with these personalities:

Marco Polo • Lee Kwan Yew •
Aishwarya Rai • Tony Fernandes

1. Light spices for light meals: ginger, fennel, cumin, star anise, pandan, turmeric and tamarind.

2. Nothing too exotic: ginger, pepper, mace, mustard seeds and fennel.

3. Hearty spices: mace, cardamom, coriander, cloves, ginger, pepper and the curry spices.

4. Peranakan spices: ginger, blue ginger, coriander seeds, chillies, black pepper, fennel, cloves, cumin, mustard seeds, star anise, tamarind and pandan.

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