Nearly half a millennium before the world, slowly connect by television images grainy black and white, was fascinated by the antics of Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong and other cute animals in the astronaut outfits there was another race that captured the attention of people. Instead of the moon and if the vanity of nations, it was spicy and it was all about profit. massive profits for the tiny seeds.
Regarding the Europeans, spices overpriced and they blamed the Venetians. They knew that the product came from somewhere in the east, but that's all. Europe emerged from the Dark Ages; for them, the east was the Ottoman Empire. In addition, their knowledge was scarce at best. In fact, this lack of knowledge can be evidenced by the fact that Columbus went looking to tap into the spice trade when he "discovered" by mistake America!
They little knew that spices themselves, nutmeg, cloves and mace, began their travels on small islands on the other side of the globe and have been worn by a horn Virtual abundance of nationalities before ending up in the finest homes and restaurants. They did not know that, but they instinctively knew that if they did it themselves, sourcing, collection and transportation, wholesale prices would plummet and profits would rise astronomically.
Towards the end of the 15 e century, the race was on and the first leaders are Portugal and Spain, no doubt encouraged by a decision of the Pope who had conveniently to them at least, carved with the globe into two halves; half being allocated to Spain and one in Portugal. Malaka was vital as it is from there to a narrow point on the Malaka Strait, all shipping charges could be verified, and especially imposed.
Before the Europeans arrived on the scene of the strait was of great importance; all trade between Arabia, India and China had to pass through this stretch of water that separates the Malay Peninsula from the long cigar-shaped island of Sumatra ,.
With the Portuguese conquest of Malacca, then a medieval Singapore, they could almost smell the aromatic spices carried on trade winds and after consolidating their hold on the vital Port they headed eastward finally set foot on the legendary islands.
But the Portuguese control of trade was brief. At the end of the 16 e century, two other players emerged on the scene and for them their goal was the outright profit. The Portuguese felt their work was done to the glory of God, but the Dutch and the British, not bound by the dictates of Rome and the Pope, had no such qualms. And benefits were astounding.
After an initial output Dutch who had seen much of the die and the crew left behind a succession of local potentates upset, a second company, more serious, bought before a 400% return for investors and launched a large number of imitation traders; by the end of 01 14 fleets had headed east looking to emulate that success.
As men of greed themselves, the donors of these armadas pioneers trust anyone. Men captaining the fleets were strictly told that they could not engage in exchanges themselves and the slightest deviation was seen seriously. Back fleets have jealously guarded their precious cargo from the hold to the marketplace.
So what were these little seeds that sent men around the world have seen small wars exported around the globe and, ultimately, saw a small island in the vast open sea exchanged for a piece of real estate that eventually became New York?
Today, if you sell a nutmeg it refers to the act of a soccer player passing the ball between the legs of an opponent. There are about 1300 years have seen monks nutmeg as something they could add to their desserts for flavoring while the Queen of England Elizabeth 1 and William Shakespeare said it could be used to ward off the plague, a common occurrence in those days. It would have also been used as an intoxicant by an assortment of people from Indonesia, the United States via India.
Given the high cost of nutmeg in the European markets, it is not surprising that they were considered a status symbol and the wealthy would think nothing of going in the best restaurants, sitting then whisk them nutmeg grater as ostentatiously as possible. Think Blackberry without worrying about the battery charge.
In a boon for businessmen reddish covering around the nutmeg seed, called mace was also prized for its culinary qualities.
Cloves also a long and varied use. A Chinese emperor demanded that anyone who wanted to speak with her must first wash your mouth with cloves to improve its odor! The Romans were also familiar with the cloves with a complainant the sum of money and resources were spent annually for trade with India.
They are also a mainstay of Indian cooking with chili added to a variety of dishes the subcontinent while the idea of burning cloves is one that has largely with that of course is a popular ingredient in Indonesian cigarettes but also as incense in China and Japan.
as any free market economist will tell you, a monopoly is not in the interest of the marketplace. The Dutch and the British are not able to enjoy their huge profits for long. The need to protect their supply routes has led to security costs more and it was never going to be long before some enterprising soul has tried to plant the seeds in similar environments far from the greed monopolists . Today, for example, nutmeg is cultivated on the small Caribbean island of Grenada and such is its importance to the economy, it is the second largest producer in the world after Indonesia, it has on their flag.
0 Komentar