Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey

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Univ of California Press, Sep 22, 2020 - Cooking - 328 pages
Gary 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

The Origin of Species
1
Aromas Emanating from the Driest of Places
16
Caravans Leaving Arabia Felix
37
Uncovering Hidden Outposts in the Desert
60
Omanis Rocking the Cradle of Civilization
90
Sesame
99
Mecca and the Migrations of Muslim and Jewish Traders
105
Damascus rose Rose of Castile
116
Coriander Cilantro
190
Building Bridges between Continents and Cultures
198
Star anise
202
DeepFried CardamomSpiced
207
Navigating the Maritime Silk Roads from China to Africa
214
Sichuan pepper
216
Spiced Chicken in Almond Sauce
223
Tuocha puerh Camels breath tea
228

Melegueta pepper Grains of Paradise
126
Merging the Spice Routes with the Silk Roads
133
Musk
150
Ginger
156
The Flourishing of CrossCultural Collaboration in Iberia
161
Pomegranate
164
Sephardic Eggplant with Swiss Chard
172
Sumac
176
The Crumbling of Convivencia and the Rise of Transnational Guilds
181
Abbasid and Andalusian Dipping Sauce
189
Vasco da Gama Mastering the Game of Globalization
231
Cumin
234
Chile peppers
246
Annatto Achiote
252
Vanilla
260
Spiced Chicken in Green Pumpkin Seed
266
Culinary Imperialism and Its Alternatives
270
Index
293
Copyright

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About the author (2020)

Gary Paul Nabhan is an Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, MacArthur "genius" award winner, and ethnobotanist of Arab-American descent. His food and farming books include Food from the Radical Center, Where Our Food Comes From, and the forthcoming Jesus for Farmers and Fishers.

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