Eve, our speaker, brought a selection of spices to see and ‘try out’ – see picture.  The bowls at the bottom contain squares of homemade gingerbread.  This contained long pepper as well as bread, ginger and honey – an interesting but not unpleasant flavour as the pepper offset the sweetness of the honey.

Spices in medieval times were expensive in part due to the distance travelled.  To justify the expense various ‘myths’ were also employed suggesting that the trees were guarded by snakes which were hard to drive out so made the spice expensive!

Spices were used for fragrance, for ‘medical’ purposes for example as an aphrodisiac and to aid fertility and of course in cooking.  Sugar was originally classed as a spice but was very rare and expensive until the end of the medieval period. Peppercorns were the cheapest spice.  The East India Company was formed in 1600 to import the spices direct from India and the Far East thus cutting out the ‘middleman’. Whilst this made the spices cheaper those who wanted to show off their wealth now brought in French chefs with their creamy sauces.  Tastes change and many of us now love more spicy dishes.