Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice OdysseyGary Paul Nabhan takes the reader on a vivid and far-ranging journey across time and space in this fascinating look at the relationship between the spice trade and culinary imperialism. Drawing on his own family’s history as spice traders, as well as travel narratives, historical accounts, and his expertise as an ethnobotanist, Nabhan describes the critical roles that Semitic peoples and desert floras had in setting the stage for globalized spice trade. Traveling along four prominent trade routes—the Silk Road, the Frankincense Trail, the Spice Route, and the Camino Real (for chiles and chocolate)—Nabhan follows the caravans of itinerant spice merchants from the frankincense-gathering grounds and ancient harbors of the Arabian Peninsula to the port of Zayton on the China Sea to Santa Fe in the southwest United States. His stories, recipes, and linguistic analyses of cultural diffusion routes reveal the extent to which aromatics such as cumin, cinnamon, saffron, and peppers became adopted worldwide as signature ingredients of diverse cuisines. Cumin, Camels, and Caravans demonstrates that two particular desert cultures often depicted in constant conflict—Arabs and Jews—have spent much of their history collaborating in the spice trade and suggests how a more virtuous multicultural globalized society may be achieved in the future. |
Contents
| 1 | |
1 Aromas Emanating from the Driest of Places | 16 |
2 Caravans Leaving Arabia Felix | 37 |
3 Uncovering Hidden Outposts in the Desert | 60 |
4 Omanis Rocking the Cradle of Civilization | 90 |
5 Mecca and the Migrations of Muslim and Jewish Traders | 105 |
6 Merging the Spice Routes with the Silk Roads | 133 |
7 The Flourishing of CrossCultural Collaboration in Iberia | 161 |
9 Building Bridges between Continents and Cultures | 198 |
10 Navigating the Maritime Silk Roads from China to Africa | 214 |
11 Vasco da Gama Mastering the Game of Globalization | 231 |
12 Crossing the Drawbridge over the Eastern Ocean | 243 |
Culinary Imperialism and Its Alternatives | 270 |
Acknowledgments | 277 |
Notes | 279 |
| 293 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Africa al-Andalus allspice ancient anise Arab Arabian Peninsula aromatics arrived Asia Banu Nebhani became Berber camel caravans cardamom cassia century chicken chiles China Chinese chocolate Christians cinnamon cloves coast cook coriander crypto-Jews Cuisine culinary cultural cumin Damascus desert Dhofar dish dynasty economic Europe flavor fragrance frankincense fruits Gama Gernot ginger globalization Greek Han Chinese harbor harvested heat Herbs and Spices historian History incense Indian Islam Jewish Jews Ka‘b Katzer known land maritime Mecca Medieval Medieval Cuisine Mediterranean merchants Mexico Middle East Minaeans mole Morocco Muhammad musk Muslim Nabataeans ofthe Oman Omani onion pepper perhaps Persian Phoenicians plants pomegranate ports Portuguese Press Prophet Quanzhou Quraysh Radhanite recipes rice Roman saffron sauce seafarers seeds Semitic Sephardic sesame ships Silk Road Sogdians souks southern Spain Spanish spice trade stew tablespoon teaspoon trade routes tree tribes turmeric Umayyad vanilla Yemen Zayton Zheng Ziryab