There are many types of spices, and each of them are very different from other either in use or history. The author of the book wrote some specific example. One of the main example that nearly take away half of the book is pepper.
The history of pepper can be trace back to 4th century BCE. Because of the difficulty in travel, it was probably very uncommon and expensive. Trade routes at the time were mostly near by the coastlines of the Arabian Sea. There were record form Rome that the early Empire sent around 120 ships to China, Southeast Asia, India and back annually. The trading routes is on the left.
Pepper was used as spice in india since prehistoric times. Because of this, it was well know as indian pepper. Pepper is native to India and had been use in Indian cooking for very long time. Pepper was a very prized trade good, at the age of exploration it was called "black gold". It was also used as a form of commodity money. After British invest India, pepper Travel through the spice road and travel to Europe, Middle East, and North Africa from India. Before the 16th century, pepper only grow in southeast Asia. These areas used pepper locally. They also trade with China for other goods. Chinese sometimes cook meat by cover the meat with different spices, included pepper. Egyptians did the exactly same thing, but not on normal meats. After pepper travel to Egypt, people used them very differently. Pepper was used with other spice is prevent corpuses from rotting. Pepper were also used to prevent people from smelling very bad since the lack in water in Egypt. They also used pepper in certain medicines.
Many people believed that pepper was used in middle age to cancel the taste of rotten meat. This is actually not true. Pepper at the time is consider a luxury. Would anyone today use gold to cook? No. Pepper in middle east was very expensive due to the difficulty in trading. But now days it became very common and become one of the most well know spice in the world. In fact, Most of the people like to compare the common use of pepper to salt. In a other way it shows how common pepper is-everytone prepare slat at home.
A riddle authored by Saint Aldhelm in 7th-century. This riddle shows the importance of pepper in England at the time.
I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover, Yet within I bear a burning marrow. I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table, Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen. But you will find in me no quality of any worth, Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.