Dangerous tastes : the story of spices
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Dangerous tastes : the story of spices
University of California Press, c2000
- : pbk
Available at 13 libraries
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 162-164) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780520227897
Description
Spices and aromatics--the powerful, pleasurable, sensual ingredients used in foods, drinks, scented oils, perfumes, cosmetics, and drugs--have long been some of the most sought-after substances in the course of human history. In various forms, spices have served as appetizers, digestives, antiseptics, therapeutics, tonics, and aphrodisiacs. Dangerous Tastes explores the captivating history of spices and aromatics: the fascination that they have aroused in us, and the roads and seaways by which trade in spices has gradually grown. Andrew Dalby, who has gathered information from sources in many languages, explores each spice, interweaving its general history with the story of its discovery and various uses. Dalby concentrates on traditional spices that are still part of world trade: cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, saffron, and chili. He also discusses aromatics that are now little used in food but still belong to the spice trade and to traditional medicine: frankincense, myrrh, aloes-wood, balsam of Mecca. In addition, Dalby considers spices that were once important but that now are almost forgotten: long pepper, cubebs, grains of Paradise.
Dangerous Tastes relates how the Aztecs, who enjoyed drinking hot chocolate flavored with chili and vanilla, sometimes added annatto (a red dye) to the drink. This not only contributed to the flavor but colored the drinker's mouth red, a reminder that drinking cacao was, in Aztec thought, parallel with drinking blood. In the section on ambergris, Dalby tells how different cultures explained the origin of this substance: Arabs and Persians variously thought of it as solidified sea spray, a resin that sprung from the depths of the sea, or a fungus that grows on the sea bed as truffles grow on the roots of trees. Some Chinese believed it was the spittle of sleeping dragons. Dalby has assembled a wealth of absorbing information into a fertile human history that spreads outward with the expansion of human knowledge of spices worldwide.
- Volume
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: pbk ISBN 9780520236745
Table of Contents
Preface THE PHOENIX'S NEST Silphium EXPORTS FROM PARADISE Ginger Sugar Sandalwood Balsam of Mecca Cinnamon Tejpat Musk THE SPICE ISLANDS Cloves Nutmeg and mace Cubebs Camphor Gum benzoin THE AROMATIC SHORE Ambergris Aloeswood THE CINNAMON MOUNTAINS Chinese pepper Galanga Rhubarb and licorice Ginseng and star anise THE LAND OF PEPPER Putchuk or costus Spikenard Long pepper Black pepper Turmeric Red sanders Zedoary and zerumbet Amomum and cardamom THE RAREST OF SPICES Gum guggul Asafoetida or hing Frankincense Myrrh CARGOES OF COMPLACENCE Coriander Cumin, caraway, anise, ajowan and nigella Mustard Poppy Mastic Storax Saffron 'I HAVE FOUND CINNAMON!' Uchu, rocoto, and ulupica Pink peppercorns Coca Chocolate Vanilla Chilli Tabasco pepper and Scotch bonnet Canella Balsam of Peru IN QUEST OF SPICERY Notes Source Texts Further Reading Glossary Of Spice Names Index
by "Nielsen BookData"