Chapter 13 - Herbs, Spices, and Perfumes

Wife or slave

100 vanilla beans

Ginger Street

14 to 17 century many spice dealers located on

Vanilla

1762 German aphrodisiac

Ginger

1775 part of American Revolutionaries' food rations

Saffron

30 AD cataract, poison treatment

104.5 lbs dried clove buds

454.5 lbs of picked flowers of cloves

Pepper

5500 lbs demanded as ransom for Rome by Alaric in 408

Clove

A nail

Ebers Papyrus

Ancient Egyptian medical scroll

Embalming

Ancient Egyptians used cinnamon for

myrrh, cinnamon, cassis ointment

Ancient Greece, megleion

Mustard

Ancient Mediterranean spice

Incense, perfumes, cosmetics, medicinally

Ancient civilizations (Ancient Rome) used essential oils in

Rhodes

Annoint brides with cinnamon oil

Spice

Aromatic & pungent vegetable, tropical origin

Herbs

Aromatic plant, temperate origin

Spice

Assortment of dried barks, roots, seeds, fruits, and flower parts that provide us with pungent essential oils, from tropical areas

Vanilla

Aztecs harvested, fermented, and dried it

Vanilla

Aztecs used it to flavor chocolate drinks, in perfumes, medicines

Cinnamon quills

Bark of new shoots

Juniper

Burned in Tibetan temple

Cloves

Chinese'Japanese used as incense

Kwai

Cinnamon in Shen Nung's herb book

Cassia

Cinnamon outer bark

Procyanidins

Cinnamon, lower blood glucose and can aid in treating diabetes

Vanilla

Climbing vine anchored in soil

Ginger

Confucius wrote about it

Ginger uses

Cooking, beer, oil in men's cologne, shaving lotion, may diminish post-workout muscle pain

Saffron uses

Cooking, dye, perfume

Lavender uses

Cooking, fragrance

Nutmeg uses

Cooking, incense, perfume, medicinal (anti-plaque)

Turmeric uses

Curry, mustard, dye, Cosmetics, medicinal (Alzheimer's, depression)

Ginger

Described by Dioscorides as a poison antidote

Ebers Papyrus

Described medical uses of plants, herbs, and spices

Red pepper

Dried ripe

Green pepper

Dried unripe

Clove

During Han Dynasty, before meeting the emperor you would be required to suck on it

Saffron

Exception to spices being woody

Allspice

Flavors of nutmeg, clove, cinnamon

Allspice uses

Food, drink, spice (Benedictine, ketchup); medicinal (rheumatism); perfumes; cosmetics

Arab Traders

Founded a spice, herb empire that lasted until the 16C

Allicin

Garlic, cures for upset stomachs because they relax gastrointestinal muscles, inhibits growth of cancer cells

Lavender

Greeks, Romans used it to scent baths

En gros - wholesale

Grocery derived from

Nutmeg

Has been used erroneously to induce abortions

Thyme oil

Has some antiseptic and fungicidal properties

Rosemary, sage

Help prevent memory loss

Cinnamon

Helps control blood sugar, pre type-2 diabetes, Mellitus

Mustard

Hippocrates used medicinally

Roman Warehouses

Horea piperatoria

Vanilla

In 1602 pharmacists used it in candy

Ogun jedi-jedi

Infusion for vomiting from Yorubas (West Africa)

Capsicum peppers

Integral ingredients of curry powders

Clove cigarettes

Kretek

Flowers

Lavender oils is made out of which plant part

Dutch east india co

Limited clove cultivation, outlawed seeds export, destroyed clove farms, cause Amboina Massacre

Aril of fruit

Mace

Dill, coriander, caraway, cumin

Main exceptions to the notion that herbs come from leaves

Allspice

Mayan spice

Coughing, diarrhea, nausea, common cold

Medicinal cinnamon uses

Pepper assets

Middle ages money

Labiatae (Lamiaceae)

Mint, rosemary, sage, thyme

Spice trader

Mohammed's (spiritual leader of Arabs) occupation as a young man

Essential oils

Most common in leaves, flowers, fruits

Annato, achiote

Mostly used as dyes

Cassia

Much coarser product than most true cinnamon

Brassicaceae

Mustard, horseradish

Herb

Nonwoody plant, from temperate regions

Mustard

Northern European luxury

Seed of fruit

Nutmeg

Book of Exodus

Oil consecrating Aaron & sons into priesthood

Myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, olive oil

Oil consecrating Aaron & sons into priesthood

Vanilla

Outside native area needs hand pollination because no bee

Apiaceae

Parsley, chervil, dill, cilantro, anise, caraway, celery, cumin, coriander, fennel

RX diarrhea

Pepper in TCM

Capsaicin

Peppers, beneficial effects on the heart and has the ability to suppress pain

Saffron

Phoenicians spent wedding night on sheets colored in it

Spice Island clove monopoly

Portuguese established this in 1512

Spice herb empire

Protected by wild stories; hiding sources, routes

Essential oils

Provide scents of aromatic plants

Ginger

Reached Rome in clay jars

Pepper sacks

Rich German men

White pepper

Ripe fruit placed in running water for 1-2 weeks and remaining endocarp dried

Horea piperatoria

Roman Warehouses

Piety

Saffron-colored Buddhist monk robes

Epazote

Said to reduce problems of intestinal gas that beans can generate

Mustard uses

Spice; medicinal (scorpion bites); plasters

Pepper

Symbol of power

Saffron

Symbol of status of Greek kings

Rosemary

Symbolizes remembrance

Capasicin

The compound in some red peppers that causes a burning sensation

Saffron

The most costly of all herbs and spices

Base

These notes anchor the fragrance and can linger for days

Middle, heart

These notes are heavier molecules that can last hours, tend to be floral, fruity, or spicy

Top, head

These notes are lighter in chemical structure and are the first to hit the nose and the first to fade

Nutmeg

Toxic in large doses and produces hallucinations in intermediate doses

Megleion

Treats skin inflammations, battle wounds

Inner bark

True cinnamon

Curcumin

Turmeric, low incidence of colon, head, and neck cancers

Cloves

Unopened flower buds dried in Sun

Clove oil

Used as a source of eugenol for the perfume and soap industries

Mint

Used as digestive aid

Pepper

Used as digestive, purgative, during Middle Ages

Cumin, anise, cinnamon, marjoram

Used by Egyptians to embalm corpses

Nutmeg

Used during Middle Ages to spice beer

Herbs, spices

Used in Ancient Orient to flavor food, drink, incense, embalming, ointments, perfumes, cosmetics, medicines, magic

Cinnamon

Used in food and drinks

Cloves

Used in ketchup, digestive, toothache

Pepper

Used to hide taste

Elongate fruits - beans

Vanilla pods

Mustard

Vasco de Gama takes a barrel of it as he searches for India

Sage

Was the one most commonly used in medicine from Classical Greek times through the Middle Ages

Lavender

Welsh used blossoms to bewilder witches

Black pepper

Whole, unripe fruit (drupe) picked green and dried to ferment

Queen Matshepsut

expedition to Yemen seeks cinnamon