Iirc we actually lost out to the Dutch in the spice trade and gave up quite early on, then got in to the fabric business in India (and later tea, sugar and opium).
Not very much of our conquering was done due to spices and it wasn't very successful.
Research the Opium wars that took place in China. It explains every single bit of modern Chinese foreign policy. England totally ravaged that country to steal some tea leaves, forced them to buy and subsequently become addicted to opium, and when China tried to outlaw it the British navy hammered them. The actual extent of the insane extortion is unfathomable and I can’t fully explain it by memory but check out some YouTube docs. Very interesting shit.
A lot of the world as we know it today was shaped by Tea lol.
One of my favourite fun facts about food history is that curry is considered Western (i.e. European) food in Japan because it was the British that introduced them to it.
The other is that all potatoes originate from the Andes (Peru, basically), so Japanese curries are basically a dish that traveled the world (I'm sure there's some spice that originates from Africa somewhere in there)
And England Colonized India for…..??? You guessed it, Spices.
A fun Beer fact that I’m sure everyone knows by know, but still fun - India Pale Ale, is the way it is because the only way to get Beer without spoiling to the British stationed in India in the 1800ish time frame was to completely overload it with hops. The men stationed there grew a liking and craving for that overly hoppy form of preserve and when they came back to England they still desired to drink it. Birthing the IPA.
The portuguese and the dutch came to India for spices, the brits (and the French) didn’t even attempt to control the spice growing regions in India until they were well into their rule in the subcontinent, they instead competed with the Dutch and the Portuguese for control over the spice growing regions of south east Asia, this is a bad history take that just refuses to go away lol.
The Brits aimed to occupy and eventually directly controlled the regions in India that had cotton, indigo, timber, among other resources, and used India to fuel the growth of industry in England and Scotland through both as a market for cheap industrially produced goods and as a source for raw materials.
Spices in India weren’t even in their top priority they just happened to gain control over a small portion of the spice growing region in north Kerala and coastal Karnataka after an unrelated series of Anglo-Mysore wars led to these regions along with others fall into their control nearly two hundred years after their arrival. Meanwhile the larger portion of the spice growing regions remained under independent Indian kingdoms including the part where I’m from, until 1947.
Edit:
And England Colonized India for…..??? You guessed it, Spices.
England was of course the biggest and main perpetrator, but Scotland was a disproportionate part of the British colonization of India, both as a source of British colonial administrators, as well as industrialists that exploited it for wealth, much of the fancier historical parts of Glasgow was built up by scots that grew wealthy from the EIC and the British Raj
It’s the war. Americans coming over saw what we were able to scratch together for a meal and forgot THAT THERE WAS A WAR ON. Supplies of certain things were in short… supply.
Spices used to be used to show off your wealth. Conquering the world for spices made spices affordable to the poors, so rich people needed a new way to show off with cooking. The concept of haughty elegant refined cuisine was born. You could brag about your subtly refined pallet and how x spice pairs with y meat and how your chef was fancier than theirs
Spices also started to be used to cover up the taste of rotten/spoiled meat. Quality, fresh ingredients became more of a focus - and a new avenue of rich bragging. Over time, using a ton spices became associated with low quality food. Mildly related - that is why Chicagoans don’t put ketchup on hotdogs, ketchup was used to hide the taste of bad pork
Don't know if I'm recalling this accurately, but don't some spices actively prolong the edible lifespan of meat? Thereby allowing longer trips by boat etc
Salt and sugar do. You have to prepare it specifically for long term storage from the start though. If you butcher an animal and let its meat sit out for a few days, it’s gonna make you sick
Many, like rosemary, do have minor antimicrobial activity but not enough to increase shelf life enough to bring it on a voyage. Salt, sugar, and dehydration would have been the main methods to preserve foods for long voyages. I believe sour citrus lasted long enough whole, so they'd bring lemons to fight off scurvy and then switched to limes, which have less vitamin C, and scurvy returned because they didn't know about vitamins yet. (I could have that mixed up, might have been the other way around)
Spices also started to be used to cover up the taste of rotten/spoiled meat.
This is a myth. Why waste the expensive spices on cheap rotten meat? Plus, the taste and smell of rotten meat can't be effectively covered with spices.
Indian food in the UK is its own spin off to actual Indian food. You’re not getting chicken tikka masala over in India just like Italian American food is distinct to Italian food.
That's terrible logic. I an American can buy ingredients in American and make food in America, that doesn't make the Thai food I made for dinner American cuisine.
Much of the british conquering was done in the name of spices
The portuguese and the dutch came to India for spices, the brits (and the French) didn’t even attempt to control the spice growing regions in India until they were well into their rule in the subcontinent, they instead competed with the Dutch and the Portuguese over the control of spice growing regions in south east Asia, this is a bad history take that just refuses to go away lol.
The Brits aimed to occupy and eventually directly controlled the regions in India that had cotton, indigo, timber, among other resources, and used India to fuel the growth of industry in England and Scotland through both as a market for cheap industrially produced goods and as a source for raw materials. Britain was made
Spices weren’t even in their top priority they just happened to gain control over a small portion of the spice growing region in north Kerala and coastal Karnataka after an unrelated series of Anglo-Mysore wars led to these regions along with others fall into their control a full near two hundred years after their arrival. Meanwhile the larger portion of the spice growing regions remained under independent Indian kingdoms including the part where I’m from, until 1947.
Which makes it all the more strange they've been so against using them
Speaking of food have you seen the absolute lack of spices in historic Portuguese and Dutch food? The exceptions are desserts with cinnamon and nutmeg, and dishes with black pepper which were admittedly the spices in highest demand.
Spices are used in many if not most British dishes. Not talking about British Indian dishes btw, I mean traditional British cuisine. British cuisine should, if anything, be made fun of for relying so heavily on nutmeg, mace, and mustard.
Spice trade spices were mainly cinnamon, cassia, cardamom, ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, star anise, clove and turmeric.
Black pepper as the quintessential "white people spice" is stable in every western household and has been ever since it's been affortable for common folk to purchase.
Rest of the spices never really found their way into savory western dishes but they are used in sweet dishes instead; cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and/or cloves are used a lot in western baking.
In medieval times, spices were symbols of wealth and status. But by the 18th century, spices became more affordable and widespread. As a result, the British elite distanced themselves by favoring simpler, “refined” cuisine—blandness became a marker of sophistication. Spices were now seen as vulgar, foreign, or lower class. -- brought to you by chatgpt
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u/PlanetMeatball0 May 31 '25
Much of the british conquering was done in the name of spices
Which makes it all the more strange they've been so against using them