The Influence of Spice on Global Cuisine

pices have played a huge part in global history and commerce, and it seems reasonable to conclude that they have played a large role in shaping the cuisine of regions and countries.

Spices play an important part of defining a cuisine, but they are not the only determinant. The large list of flavouring groups includes herbs, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, flowers, meat, fish, etc. Furthermore, some cuisines employ few or no spices, e.g. Scandinavian and north European, and might be considered bland to some palates, but this is not the same as lacking in flavour, which can be derived from other ingredients. The emerging discipline of ‘computational gastronomy’ looks at large amounts of data from recipes of various cuisines.¹

A qualitative attempt to show the prevalence of a broad range of spices and herbs across a range of national cuisines was attempted, though it appears from the outset to be fraught with problems and inconsistencies – national cuisines per se rarely exist other than in a few highly publicised specialist dishes; regional cuisines are more typical, which often or usually don’t follow political boundaries; globalisation has blurred lines in the twenty-first century to the extent that foreign foods are often as much appreciated as indigenous ones; spice import data can be misleading, as products are often re-exported; ‘exotic’ ingredients are available almost anywhere; spice products such as dried, ground, oleoresin or essential oils are often used in medicinal, cosmetic, colouring and food-processing industries in addition to culinary usage; data sources may be unreliable.

And yet, despite these and other caveats, patterns do emerge. Asian cuisines show the broadest array of spices and herbs of anywhere in the world. Europe is still dominated by the use of ‘herby’ flavours, particularly those from the coriander and mint families. The Middle East and North Africa also use a broad range of spices, reflecting more than 2,000 years of interaction with the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Their use is more or less intermediate between Europe and Asia, with plenty of ‘Med’ herbs and a good variety of Asian spices.

With regard to individual spices, black pepper and garlic are virtually ubiquitous: everybody uses them, everywhere. Chili too, in one form or another, is used almost everywhere, though the intensity of use – and heat – varies dramatically: hot food is still associated with India, the Far East and Latin America. Cinnamon and nutmeg are used widely, though apart from inclusion in popular blends such as various Indian masalas, Baharat, Berbere, Chinese Five Spice and Indonesian bumbus, etc., mainly in sweet dishes. Vanilla, the world’s most popular flavour, is also used mainly, but not exclusively, in sweet dishes. Parsley, thyme and oregano are much used, though are relatively uncommon in Asia.

Many spices which were associated with specific geographic regions, around their native locales, are now cultivated in similar climate zones across the world. Examples are nutmeg/mace, cloves, ginger, turmeric, pepper and chilis. Black pepper, originally only produced in south-west India, is grown across South and Southeast Asia, as well as in Central America and Brazil. Cardamom, also native to India, is now grown in Guatemala, Tanzania, El Salvador, Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea. Ginger and turmeric are other natives of India now cultivated across many tropical regions.

Cloves, native to the Banda Islands of eastern Indonesia, are today produced all over Indonesia as well as in Zanzibar, Madagascar, the Indian subcontinent, Malaysia, China, Brazil, the Caribbean and even Turkey, but the largest user is still Indonesia for flavouring their kretek cigarettes. As with many aromatic spices, the essential oil and oleoresin have widespread uses in sauces, pickles, etc. Coriander, native to the Mediterranean and Middle East, is now produced and consumed globally, with India being the largest producer. India is also the largest producer of cumin, a spice with a similar origin to coriander, now produced and used globally, but especially in India and the Middle East. Parsley is native to the eastern Mediterranean and now has global appeal, though it is not very popular in Asian cuisines. Nonetheless, the greater Mediterranean region is still one of the main areas of cultivation of culinary herbs. Globalisation takes many forms – oregano became a worldwide hit post-Second World War in parallel with increased consumption of pizza!²

The changing patterns of food and spice use have been driven by mass movement of peoples throughout history, either in peace or in wartime. Examples include Bronze Age Indo-European movements, and the Crusaders returning from their wars in the Middle Ages, bringing home new tastes and stimulating a new demand for spices throughout Europe. The USA and Canada host large immigrant populations (around 40 million in 2020) with the most dominant ethnic types in recent years being Asians and Latin Americans (especially Mexicans); these have had and will continue to have influence on culinary trends in the USA, particularly on demand for spices, given their diverse use of spices and herbs. Spices formerly considered exotic are increasingly regarded as mainstream in many cuisines today – this is not just an American experience. Diaspora from China and the Indian subcontinent have popularised Asian cuisine all over the world via restaurants and Asian supermarkets.

So where does all this leave us? Spices have never been more available nor more widely used than they are currently. But we can still see the history of ancient cuisines resonating in the foods of today: Asian cuisine has been defined by the spices native to Asia, especially by the gingers, peppers, laurels and myrtles native to that region. Chili, the American latecomer, increased the pungency still further. European food has been dominated by the herbs and milder spices locally available, spiced up since the Middle Ages by exotic imports from the East. The Middle East, Western Asia and North African cuisines all reflect millennia of trade with India and Southeast Asia but retain the core spices that were available during the birth of civilisation in the Fertile Crescent. The New World countries largely reflect the preferences of the diaspora that have settled there over the last few centuries. Despite the effects of globalisation, regional cuisines remain largely intact. Thai food is still Thai food, the many varieties of Indian, Chinese and Latino foods are unmistakable; Italian and French foods are loved across the world because they are exceptional and unique. The spices and herbs that flavour these cuisines are still mainly those that were available locally during ancient times. The globalisation referred to frequently in this chapter didn’t just happen in the late twentieth century, but from continuous trade and successive periods of conquest and migration stretching back thousands of years. The spices and herbs available to the Romans (as seen in the work of Apicius) are astounding even by today’s standards, including many Eastern exotics, even though the consumers had no idea where most of them came from. Trade routes were already sophisticated 2,000 years ago and Eastern spices were reaching the Mediterranean 1,000 years before that.