Of Spice as well as Profit
Nearly half a millennium before the earth, slowly getting connected by grainy black as well as white TV images, was entranced by antics of Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong as well as various cute animals in astronaut outfits there was another race that will captured peoples’ attention. Instead of the moon though as well as the vanity of nations that will was spices as well as that will was all about profit. Massive profits for tiny seeds.
As far as the Europeans were concerned, spices were inordinately expensive as well as they blamed the Venetians. They knew the commodity came by somewhere from the east however that will was that will. Europe was coming out of the dark ages; to them, the east was the Ottoman Empire. Beyond that will, their knowledge was scanty at best. In fact that will lack of knowledge can be highlighted by the fact that will Christopher Columbus set off looking to tap into the spice trade when he ‘discovered’ America by mistake!
They little knew that will the spices themselves, nutmeg, clove as well as mace, began their journeys on tiny islands on the some other side of the globe as well as were carried by a virtual cornucopia of nationalities before ending up from the finest houses as well as restaurants. They didn’t know that will however they instinctively knew that will if they did that will themselves, the sourcing, the collection as well as the transportation, then wholesale prices would likely plummet as well as their profits would likely increase astronomically.
Towards the end of the 15th century the race was on as well as the early frontrunners were Portugal as well as Spain, no doubt encouraged by a papal ruling that will had conveniently, for them at least, carved with the globe into halves; the one half being awarded to Spain, the some other to Portugal. Malaka was vital as that will was by there, at a narrow point on the Malaka Straits, that will all shipping could be checked, as well as most importantly, taxed.
Before the Europeans came on the scene the Straits was of great importance; all trade between Arabia, India as well as China had to pass through This kind of stretch of water that will separates the Malay Peninsula by the long, cigar shaped island of Sumatra.
With the Portuguese conquest of Malaka, then a middle ages Singapore, they could almost smell the aromatic spices carried on the trade winds as well as after consolidating their hold on the vital port they headed east as well as eventually set foot on the fabled islands.
however the Portuguese mastery of the trade was brief. At the end of the 16th century two some other players emerged on the scene as well as for them their goal was profit pure as well as simple. The Portuguese felt their work was done for the glory of God however the Dutch as well as the British, not bound by the dictates of Rome as well as the Holy Father, had no such scruples. as well as the profits were mindboggling.
After an initial Dutch sortie which had seen many of the crew die as well as left behind a succession of upset local potentates, a second, more serious venture, bought forward a return of 400% for the investors as well as launched a slew of copycat traders; by end of 1601 14 fleets had headed east looking to imitate that will success.
As men of greed themselves, the backers of these pioneer armadas trusted no one. The men captaining the fleets were strictly told they could not engage in any trade themselves as well as even the slightest discrepancy was viewed very seriously. Returning fleets would likely have their precious cargo guarded jealously by the cargo hold to the market place.
So what were these tiny seeds that will sent men around the earth, saw smaller wars exported round the globe as well as, ultimately, saw a tiny island from the middle of wide open sea exchanged for a piece of real estate that will eventually became brand new York?
Today if you sell a nutmeg that will refers to the act of one footballer passing the ball between the legs of an opponent. About 1,300 years ago monks saw nutmeg as something they could add to their desserts for flavouring while the England of Queen Elizabeth 1 as well as William Shakespeare believed that will could be used to ward off the plague, a frequent occurrence in those days. that will has also reportedly been used as an intoxicant by a smorgasbord of people by Indonesia, to the USA via India.
Given the high cost of nutmeg in European markets that will will be little surprise they were seen as a status symbol as well as the well off would likely think nothing of going to the finest restaurants, sitting down then whipping out their nutmeg grater as ostentatiously as possible. Think Blackberry without worrying about charging the battery.
In a boon to those businessmen the reddish covering around the nutmeg seed, called mace, was also highly sought after for its culinary qualities.
Cloves also have a long as well as varied usage. One Chinese emperor demanded that will anyone who wished to speak with his should first wash their mouth with clove to improve its odor! The Romans were also familiar with cloves, with one complaining the amount of money as well as resources that will were expended annually to trade with India.
They are also a mainstay of Indian food with the spice added to a variety of dishes by the sub continent while the idea of burning clove will be one that will has spread far with of course that will being a well-known ingredient in Indonesian cigarettes however also as an incense in both China as well as Japan.
As any free market economist will tell you, a monopoly will be not from the interests of the market place. The Dutch as well as British were not able to enjoy their massive profits for long. The need to protect their supply routes led to ever increasing costs of security as well as that will was never going to be long before some enterprising soul tried planting the seeds in similar environments far by the monopolists avarice. Today, for example, nutmeg will be grown on the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada as well as such will be its importance to the country’s economy, that will will be the second largest producer from the earth after Indonesia, that will features on their flag.
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Of Spice as well as Profit
Of Spice as well as Profit