I think the main determiner of which cultures use a lot of spices is not proximity to the British Empire, but latitude. Tropical and semi-tropical countries tend to use more spices than temperate countries.
Isn’t that because hot spices function as preservatives? Hence Indian curries, Jamaican jerk, and all kinds of hot Mexican stuff. It’s odd that salt didn’t become a favoured preservative, perhaps because spices grow well in tropical climates and are certainly tastier.
A lot of folks seem to think that, but I can’t see how it would work. Remember, the standard “hot spice”, capsaicin, is only hot to mammals, not even birds. Birds are a lot more closely related to us than bacteria are.
Of course, decades ago people had precisely the wrong idea about macronutrients. They likely thought the giant ball of (all carb, high glycemic index) white rice was A-ok, while the fats in the meat and fries were evil. We know better now that high fat foods aren’t so bad (keeping calories constant).
Not that the Big Mac meal was healthy, but that bento box was probably bad in its own ways (even aside from sodium).
I’m not a food historian, but I don’t think that theorizing holds up particularly well. For one thing, chili peppers are from the New World (although that encompasses your references to Jamaica and Mexico, of course). It is true that a lot of spices are from, for example, the “Spice Islands,” aka the Moluccas in Indonesia - but not capsicum.
Also, salt seems to be a prevalent preservative in SE Asia, at least for seafood. I’ve had all kinds of dried fish, preserved with salt, in places like Indonesia and Thailand. My culinary experience is too limited to be certain for China and Japan, but my sense is that they traditionally do a lot of salt-based preservation as well.
I have no knowledge of the subject, but it would be astonishing if the link to food preservation was completely wrong. Check out this report from the NIH:
From the abstract:
Spices, known for their antimicrobial value, are investigated for their potential as food preservatives. The review assesses 25 spice types for their inherent antimicrobial properties and their applicability in inhibiting various foodborne microorganisms and suggests further future investigations regarding their use as possible natural food preservatives that could offer safer, more sustainable methods for extending shelf life. Future research should delve deeper into the use of natural antimicrobials, such as spices, to not only replace synthetic preservatives but also optimize their application in food safety and shelf-life extension.
It’s probably an urban myth, but I recall hearing a theory that spicy foods often associated with lower latitudes and hot climates were used to induce sweating, which offers an enhanced cooling effect.
It’s long been a canard that spices were used to preserve food in the days before refrigeration, but it has also been pointed out that spicy food simply covers up the taste of food gone bad.
I wouldn’t be surprised if modern technology could find a way to use the compounds in some spices to enhance shelf-life, but that doesn’t mean that putting allspice and black pepper into a beef stew is going to keep it from going bad. In other words, such spices may have the potential to help, but it seems doubtful that preservation was the primary benefit/intent in history when spices became prized throughout the world. TASTE is reason enough!
(Also, note that @wolfpup’s cite says that spices are being investigated for their potential value in replacing food additives - I may have missed it, but I don’t think it says that the spices were effectively used in pre-refrigeration days to keep food from spoiling.)
It should be noted that, in a lot of cases where food “goes bad”, it’s just the flavor that’s bad, and it won’t (yet) make you sick. Not all cases, of course: Something can make you sick or dead without having any off flavors at all. But some cases, and if you know which cases those are, you can use added flavorings to extend how long food remains edible.
Such as what? I can’t think of any instance where this is the case.
Fish. If you have access to fresh fish it tastes great. Over time it will begin to taste “less great”, even developing a very slight ammonia taste, yet still it is safe to eat.
At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve consumed oysters at an oyster festival that were absolutely delicious, but were contaminated with Vibrio. I was very sick. When I called the City Department of Health, their phone message started, “if you were at the oyster fest this weekend and are sick today, Press 1”.
Milk is a pretty obvious case. Especially when it just starts to go bad. Some recipes actually call for soured milk.
About 20 years ago I bought some Marie Callendar pot pies for the family dinner. I was looking at the boxes and noticed the chicken pot pie said it had 45% of the daily recommended amount of salt. Then I noticed each pie was 2 servings. I had recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure so I decided I shouldn’t eat things like that. I returned the pies to the grocery store and got my money back.
Anyone have a water softener? Have you looked into the amount of sodium in your softened water? We use our dehumidifier water to water houseplants instead of tap water.
Isn’t that simply because most spices grow in hot climates?
Soured milk isn’t the same as the spoiled milk in your fridge.
“Less great”, maybe, but he specified “bad” flavor.
Marie Callendars is the worst I’ve seen. I’ve been on bp meds for a while. This year my bp has been low and instead of being happy it worries me. At the higi station it was 101/69.
I think rancid fats are another thing that tastes bad but isn’t actually harmful.