It was not long before the Romans learned about pepper from the Greeks and began to trade with India through the intermediary of the South Arabians (Yemenites). By the second century A.D., the Romans were no longer trading through an intermediary. Their ships sailed from Alexandria along the southeastern canal built by the Egyptian pharaohs not only to the Arabian reloading site Arabia Felix, but also as far as India.
Man's oldest ancestors fed on the seeds of grasses, although later they began to occasionally eat the flesh of various animals. This was eaten raw for fire was unknown to them and so they had no knowledge of cooking. The change to the present wide assortment of foods took place slowly and our day and age continues to see an increase in the variety of foods, which is mainly due to the use of herbs and spices. Thanks to these it is possible to make a tasty pt even from seaweed.
The late Middle Ages might be called the Golden Age of Herbs and Spices for that period saw the emergence of the science of cookery and housekeeping. Cookery was considered an art and a properly prepared dish the best of medicines. The following recipe for 'Douce Ame' (meaning 'sweet breath'), recorded in 1390 by the head cook at the court of Richard II of England, is an example of the recipes of that day.
References to herbs and their use may be found in Chinese documents from as far back as 3000 B.C. Ancient Egyptian recipes on papyrus from the middle of the second millennium B.C. called for the use of herbs such as anise, mustard, caraway, coriander, mint, wormwood, cinnamon and saffron. The cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets prove that the Sumerians cultivated fennel, caraway, coriander, saffron and thyme in Mesopotamia and that way back in ancient times the Indians were already acquainted with the use of cardamom, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and cinnamon.
There exist many records from the days of ancient Greece, thanks to the great physician Hippocrates and the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, as well as from the days of the Roman Empire, thanks to the Roman scholar Pliny. As we see, herbs were used by man long before the advent of modern civilization.
At first the various herbs and spices were known and used only in those places where they grew naturally in the wild. This applies not only to the tropical species from the Malabar Coast, but also to the aromatic herbs of the Mediterranean region as well as to the vanilla and red pepper of America. That is why in the days when there was still no means of communication between these distant lands, there is the emergence of distinctive native dishes that have remained characteristic for the given region to this day, even though the local cuisine is becoming increasingly more cosmopolitan with the spread of civilization. - 15266
Man's oldest ancestors fed on the seeds of grasses, although later they began to occasionally eat the flesh of various animals. This was eaten raw for fire was unknown to them and so they had no knowledge of cooking. The change to the present wide assortment of foods took place slowly and our day and age continues to see an increase in the variety of foods, which is mainly due to the use of herbs and spices. Thanks to these it is possible to make a tasty pt even from seaweed.
The late Middle Ages might be called the Golden Age of Herbs and Spices for that period saw the emergence of the science of cookery and housekeeping. Cookery was considered an art and a properly prepared dish the best of medicines. The following recipe for 'Douce Ame' (meaning 'sweet breath'), recorded in 1390 by the head cook at the court of Richard II of England, is an example of the recipes of that day.
References to herbs and their use may be found in Chinese documents from as far back as 3000 B.C. Ancient Egyptian recipes on papyrus from the middle of the second millennium B.C. called for the use of herbs such as anise, mustard, caraway, coriander, mint, wormwood, cinnamon and saffron. The cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets prove that the Sumerians cultivated fennel, caraway, coriander, saffron and thyme in Mesopotamia and that way back in ancient times the Indians were already acquainted with the use of cardamom, turmeric, cloves, nutmeg, pepper and cinnamon.
There exist many records from the days of ancient Greece, thanks to the great physician Hippocrates and the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, as well as from the days of the Roman Empire, thanks to the Roman scholar Pliny. As we see, herbs were used by man long before the advent of modern civilization.
At first the various herbs and spices were known and used only in those places where they grew naturally in the wild. This applies not only to the tropical species from the Malabar Coast, but also to the aromatic herbs of the Mediterranean region as well as to the vanilla and red pepper of America. That is why in the days when there was still no means of communication between these distant lands, there is the emergence of distinctive native dishes that have remained characteristic for the given region to this day, even though the local cuisine is becoming increasingly more cosmopolitan with the spread of civilization. - 15266
