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The Medieval Taste for Spices

The subject of medieval spices is a venerable one, venerable to the point of being a series of clichés. For example, an enduring piece of received knowledge about medieval Europe is that spices were used to cover up the taste of meat that was semi-spoiled. This is in the same category of erroneous modern lore about the Middle Ages as the droit de seigneur, Pope Joan, chastity belts, Marco Polo bringing pasta to Italy from China, or Columbus attempting to prove that the Earth is round. All this notwithstanding, three related historical topics make it worthwhile to explore the allure of spices in the Middle Ages. In the first place, spices are part of the history of culinary and medical ideas. Spices also play a role in the background to the first overseas ex-