Of Spice in addition to Profit
Nearly half a millennium before the globe, slowly getting connected by grainy black in addition to white TV images, was entranced by antics of Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong in addition to various cute animals in astronaut outfits there was another race in which captured peoples’ attention. Instead of the moon though in addition to the vanity of nations the idea was spices in addition to the idea was all about profit. Massive profits for tiny seeds.
As far as the Europeans were concerned, spices were inordinately expensive in addition to they blamed the Venetians. They knew the commodity came through somewhere within the east nevertheless in which was the idea. Europe was coming out of the dark ages; to them, the east was the Ottoman Empire. Beyond in which, their knowledge was scanty at best. In fact in which lack of knowledge can be highlighted by the fact in which Christopher Columbus set off looking to tap into the spice trade when he ‘discovered’ America by mistake!
They little knew in which the spices themselves, nutmeg, clove in addition to mace, began their journeys on tiny islands on the various other side of the globe in addition to were carried by a virtual cornucopia of nationalities before ending up within the finest houses in addition to restaurants. They didn’t know in which nevertheless they instinctively knew in which if they did the idea themselves, the sourcing, the collection in addition to the transportation, then wholesale prices would likely plummet in addition to their profits would likely increase astronomically.
Towards the end of the 15th century the race was on in addition to the early frontrunners were Portugal in addition to Spain, no doubt encouraged by a papal ruling in which had conveniently, for them at least, carved with the globe into halves; the one half being awarded to Spain, the various other to Portugal. Malaka was vital as the idea was through there, at a narrow point on the Malaka Straits, in which all shipping could be checked, in addition to most importantly, taxed.
Before the Europeans came on the scene the Straits was of great importance; all trade between Arabia, India in addition to China had to pass through This specific stretch of water in which separates the Malay Peninsula through 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 in addition to after consolidating their hold on the vital port they headed east in addition to eventually set foot on the fabled islands.
nevertheless the Portuguese mastery of the trade was brief. At the end of the 16th century two various other players emerged on the scene in addition to for them their goal was profit pure in addition to simple. The Portuguese felt their work was done for the glory of God nevertheless the Dutch in addition to the British, not bound by the dictates of Rome in addition to the Holy Father, had no such scruples. in addition to the profits were mindboggling.
After an initial Dutch sortie which had seen many of the crew die in addition to left behind a succession of upset local potentates, a second, more serious venture, bought forward a return of 400% for the investors in addition to launched a slew of copycat traders; by end of 1601 14 fleets had headed east looking to imitate in which 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 in addition to even the slightest discrepancy was viewed very seriously. Returning fleets would likely have their precious cargo guarded jealously through the cargo hold to the market place.
So what were these tiny seeds in which sent men around the globe, saw smaller wars exported round the globe in addition to, ultimately, saw a tiny island within the middle of wide open sea exchanged for a piece of real estate in which eventually became fresh York?
Today if you sell a nutmeg the idea 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 in addition to William Shakespeare believed the idea could be used to ward off the plague, a frequent occurrence in those days. the idea has also reportedly been used as an intoxicant by a smorgasbord of people through Indonesia, to the USA via India.
Given the high cost of nutmeg in European markets the idea will be little surprise they were seen as a status symbol in addition to 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 in addition to varied usage. One Chinese emperor demanded in which 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 in addition to resources in which were expended annually to trade with India.
They are also a mainstay of Indian food with the spice added to a variety of dishes through the sub continent while the idea of burning clove will be one in which has spread far with of course the idea being a common ingredient in Indonesian cigarettes nevertheless also as an incense in both China in addition to Japan.
As any free market economist will tell you, a monopoly will be not within the interests of the market place. The Dutch in addition to 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 in addition to the idea was never going to be long before some enterprising soul tried planting the seeds in similar environments far through the monopolists avarice. Today, for example, nutmeg will be grown on the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada in addition to such will be its importance to the country’s economy, the idea will be the second largest producer within the globe after Indonesia, the idea features on their flag.
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Of Spice in addition to Profit
Of Spice in addition to Profit