Question

What plants and spices does Columbus believe the Americas possess?

Answer 1

Each of the continents of the planet has its own spices, but it was in Europe from the Crusades, from the eleventh century, that the consumption of these varieties from the tropical regions developed. Giving flavor to meals came to be treated as an alchemy in the more affluent homes of European families. It was because of spices that trade between the West and the East was expanded, with the creation of various land and sea routes, which united not only Europe internally, but linked it to China through the Silk Road and India, through Spice Route. Black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger were rare treasures brought by Arabs from distant tropical areas of Asia to be marketed in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea region.

Since the Roman Empire some oriental spices were already consumed on European soil, notably black pepper. About a thousand years later, in the medieval period, Arab cultural influence added other spices to the rich tables of Europe, and demand grew in proportion to the expansion of the middle class. The growth of this trade has awakened in Portugal and Spain the interest in opening new sea routes to Asia. It was in this way that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 and from there took the vanilla and various types of peppers. Then, in 1498, Vasco da Gama arrived in India, where he established, along with Spain, the trade of clove and nutmeg until 1600, when they were surpassed by the Dutch who kept control of this trade for about 200 years.