https://www.slowfood.com/the-spice-of-life/
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#1 blt:
Fresh green peppercorns (พริกไทยสด) in Thai food give an amazingly complex, aromatic flavor without being overpoweringly spicy. The first time I tasted them was like a revelation. It seems that cuisines from hot climates are more aware of the value of fresh herbs and spices. I agree with the thesis of this article; European-rooted chefs will eventually catch on.
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#2 ucaetano:
"Spices were the first foods to be subjected to capitalist and imperialist processes of production and distribution."
No. In the Roman Empire Garum (a fermented fish sauce) was produced in industrial scale in the Iberian peninsula and exported as a luxury condiment all across the Empire.
Many other ingredients followed similar production and distribution.
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#3 kimboleek:
Saffron from Afghanistan: speaking of the Silk Road, saffron was worth its weight in gold. Alexander the Great would bathe in saffron after battle to heal his wounds, and Cleopatra bathed also in saffron before her trysts with Julius Caesar. In the Middle Ages you could be put to death for adulterating saffron. Anyway, my company is a group of military veterans who source saffron directly from Afghan farmers and hired almost 2,000 Afghan women this year. We source our saffron to The French Laundry, Dominique Crenn, Daniel Boulud, Blue Apron, and once to Mark Cuban on Shark Tank. :) www.rumispice.com
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#4 Lanthis:
It is highly unlikely that spice production will suddenly join local/slow trends, due to the climates required for their production, and the amount of manual labor required to process them.
Also, spices are perfectly suited for commodity production due to their handling characteristics.
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#5 indescions_2018:
Also scant mention of the role herbs and spices have played in folk medicine since the dawn of our species. One glance at Rodale's Encyclopedia of Herbs is enough to see that two or three generations ago, most American households would have employed some form of home remedy such as crushed barberries to alleviate the scratchiness of a sore throat ;)
Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs
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#6 tremendulo:
Variety is, famously, the spice of life. But it is also the spice of spice. Exotic spices can often be sprinkled like the more standard condiments such as salt and pepper. By sprinkling spice on some parts of one's dish and not others one generates a stronger and more interesting experience overall. Presumably explained by the principle below:
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#7 boulos:
It's too bad that an article focused on black pepper doesn't mention Cambodia and Vietnam. Kampot pepper in particular used to be the fancy pepper at good restaurants in France. If anything, India remaining stable-ish and continuing to export is what caused pepper to be a race-to-the-bottom commodity. It'll be great to see a resurgence, but honestly most people will never care.
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#8 AdamN:
"Spices were the first foods to be subjected to capitalist and imperialist processes of production and distribution."
Wheat and other staples have been used for such purposes for thousands of years. Some researchers think that the power of staples to act as currency for large scale civilizations is what led to their dominance - since nutritionally they aren't compelling.
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#9 BadassFractal:
I don't know anything about this, but I'm wondering, is the slow and quality food movement compatible with the need to fill the bellies of soon 10 bil people? Is this just privilege for the first world? I love a good trip to Whole Foods or Eataly as much as anybody else, but how do we make that scale?
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#10 arstin:
Nice article. For anyone wanting to try more pepper, I like going to The Meadow when in NYC. Sometimes get a random vial of (expensive!) pepper. Plus you can sample a wall of bitters!
Any one else have a good source?
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#11 undefined:
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