Spices in History

Laura has been learning about spices.  In history, she has learned about how spices from India were treasured.  I think she was a little grossed out to learn that often these spices would be used to hide the flavor of spoiled food.  She also read how salt was used as a preservative for foods.  This is all interesting and new to a child that has a refrigerator to store food.  We discussed how valuable some of these spices were at the time.  (Makes me think I'm spoiled when I complain about the cost of them at the grocery store.)

This week the history projects all involve learning about spices and the spice trade route that existed in the 1400s.  Today Laura got to raid our spice cabinet for some of the spices we have that were originally very treasured spices from India.  Spices like cinnamon, cloves, and garlic were put on display.  Seeing the spices in connection with the reading we have been doing was wonderful. 

I think we take it for granted that, if we want cinnamon bread, we can just go to the local store and cheaply buy a bottle of powdered cinnamon or some sticks.  We haven't had to sail around Africa and make our way over land to India just to make some sweet bread.  The fact that others at one time in history had to go to such amazing lengths tells how valuable these spices were at the time.