HEF-Spice infographic_M2-PYE

SPICE WORLD
The centuries-old spice trade boasts ties to vikings, queens, zombies and now
Heifer project participants. Cardamom farmers in Guatemala are tapping into
this international market that’s born fortunes and shaped history.
SAFFRON
SPICE
HERB
MINERAL
A pungently AROMATIC
SUBSTANCE from roots,
LEAFY PARTS of a plant
that add flavor and aroma
to food or drink
A naturally
occurring, INORGANIC,
stems, bark or seeds,
used to flavor food or drink
SOLID SUBSTANCE
ORIGINALLY FROM GREECE
SAFFRON-BASED PAINT
has been found in
prehistoric cave
paintings
Used in China and
India as a fabric dye;
Monks’ golden robes
got their traditional
hue from SAFFRON
Cleopatra
liked to take
a SAFFRON BATH
before receiving
suitors
PEPPER is the world’s
Some are trying
to encourage farmers
in Afghanistan to
grow SAFFRON,
hoping it can take
the place of the
opium trade
most popular spice
PEPPER
“ From the beginning, what the world
wanted from bloody mother India was
daylight-clear…. They came for the hot
stuff, just like any man calling on a tart.”
Salman Rushdie, The Moor’s Last Sigh
SAFFRON crocus
threads
As the world’s most expensive spice,
SAFFRON is more expensive by weight
than gold
VANILLA
ORIGINALLY FROM INDIA
PEPPER was the
Roman Empire’s
aspirin: a cure for
aches and pains
Columbus brought PEPPERCORNS with him
to communicate what he wanted to natives;
He then mistook CHILIES FOR PEPPER,
hence the misnomer
ORIGINATED IN MEXICO
PEPPERCORNS
The United States’ first millionaires scored
their fortunes in the PEPPER TRADE
Iran is now the world’s
leading producer
of SAFFRON
Spanish conquistador Hernán
Cortés brought VANILLA
to Europe in the 1520s
Guatemala leads
the world in CARDAMOM
production
NUTMEG & MACE
ORIGINALLY FOUND ONLY ON
INDONESIA’S BANDA ISLANDS
RUN
Seeds from
the CARDAMOM
PLANT
Vanilla grows naturally
only in Mesoamerica,
because its natural
pollinator, the
MELIPONA BEECHEII,
is not found elsewhere
CARDAMOM was first
harvested in India
CARDAMOM
Gives distinctive flavor
to CHAI TEA and GIN;
less commonly used
in aquavit and
pickled fish
Today, VANILLA grows
in abundance in the
West Indies, where it must
be pollinated by hand
SALT
Early humans
found salt by
following animals
to SALT LICKS or
BRINE SPRINGS
Vietnam now leads
the world in PEPPER
production
FIRST HARVESTED IN INDIA
Chewed like gum
to cure bad breath
Vikings first tasted
it while raiding
Constantinople
1,000 years ago
CARDAMOM remains
Scandinavia’s favorite
spice to this day
TRUE CINNAMON comes
NUTMEG FRUIT
from the inner bark
of several trees from
the genus Cinnamomum
"The shores of the island are full of it,
and it is the best in all the Orient.
When one is downwind of the island, one can
still smell cinnamon eight leagues out to sea."
-
Fruit coming from an
orchid the Aztecs called
the “black flower”
a captain of the Dutch
East India Company
NOT ACTUALLY A SPICE, SALT IS TECHNICALLY A MINERAL
ORIGINALLY FROM SRI LANKA
SALT can preserve
food... and other things
The Maasai get SALT
by drinking the blood
of their livestock
In the Vodou
religion of Haiti, it’s
believed that zombies
can only be cured
by eating SALT
Most of what the world knows as CINNAMON
is actually cassia, derived from the bark
of closely related trees
Egyptians used it to
make mummies
An adult contains
enough SALT to fill
3 or 4 salt shakers
A feud over control of Run led
to an infamous trade:
The Dutch gave Manhattan to the
English in exchange for control
of Run and a nutmeg monopoly
Prices soared during
the Middle Ages,
when NUTMEG was
rumored to fend off
the Black Death
In large doses, NUTMEG induces
delirium and hallucinations and
is fatal to dogs
THE CINNAMON CHALLENGE
(starts making the rounds on the internet in 2001)
The Rodney
Dangerfield
of spices, cassia
is sometimes called
Swallow
a spoonful
of ground
BASTARD CINNAMON
CINNAMON
“No respect!”
CINNAMON
The Indonesian
island richest
in NUTMEG
In under
60
seconds
Without
drinking
anything
In 2012, American poison control centers
received more than 100 phone calls as
a result of the CINNAMON CHALLENGE