The correct answer is A. In the Middle Ages, spices that are now ordinary were rare imports from faraway places.
Explanation
The excerpt talks about traders who traded in black pepper grown in southwestern India, which meant too long a journey to bring these products to Europe. In the first place they had to be transported to Arabia, and from there to Syria where European merchants acquired it to take it to the different kingdoms of Europe as the author mentions when saying that "From India the pepper was shipped across to Arabia, where camel caravans would carry it all the way to Syria. The Italians could purchase enough pepper in Syria to carry with them to the next Champagne fair". According to the above, the correct answer is A. In the Middle Ages, spices that are now ordinary were rare imports from faraway places.
