its just spices man... why did rich europeans pay so much for some spices... this european obsession with food is quite bizarre to me... what's wrong with eating vegetables and spmices native to your country?
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Anonymous2009-07-20 10:59
The same reason people don't eat vegetables and spices native to their country now. Local produce is fucking boring in most of Europe and North America.
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Anonymous2009-07-20 11:54
Because exotice spices give more flavor to something than some other spice you eat all the time. It makes eating less bland and more enjoyable. Also Europe had the money and luxury to be able to worry about just enjoying food. They could afford that luxury.
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Anonymous2009-07-21 21:38
War and politics in the past was a lot different from today, war was more predictable and most nations had reached an equilibrium after 100s of years of fighting, even new technology like gunpowder did little to change the mobility of armies and only served to centralise power around monarchs who could afford the investments needed to field the new weapons. As a result warfare was more about proving you are stronger rather than the total physical obliteration of your enemies, although this was not always the case, unstable regions were usually no more or less stable than they were during the medieval era while large nation states like Spain, France, the Hapsburg empire and the Ottoman empire maintained core territories containing millions of people.
Rulers needed to show how rich and powerful they were for a practical military reason, to prove to potential threats that the King has so much money that if they ever declared war on him he could easily divert the tons of silver he spends getting spices from the other side of the world to their plate on guns and cannons to kill them. Spices were also part of a lifestyle that governments could use to keep the loyalty of key personnel aswell as bribe foreigners, they were also sought after by kingdoms without their own colonial empire and could provide a source of income from them, for instance Dutch traders imported logistically critical grain from Poland in exchange for luxuries from their colonies during their wars with much larger european nation states giving them a military advantage.
It was used to hide horrible body odor (no frequent baths, no deodorant) and mask the stench of rotting meat. No fridge, no ziploc bags, just pick out the colored spots and maggots and enjoy with salt.
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Anonymous2009-07-24 3:15
why was the spice trade so important
Four words:
- gold
- silver
- cash
- revenue
To put it another way; enough people liked it enough to pay enough money, that controlling spice trade meant obscene profit.
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Anonymous2009-07-26 3:19
ever tried eating the same thing for several hundred generations? the second someone else invents a completely new taste ppl will be selling their children to have some
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Anonymous2009-07-26 5:05
Imagine if there were no chickens in Africa. Niggers would have created empires, sailed the seven seas and colonized half the world for that sweet, sweet chikkin.
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Anonymous2009-07-26 8:21
>>10
I for one would honor being ruled by such noble black masters. If only.